


One Night Stand

by huevoplatano



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Betrayal, Body Worship, Captivity, Date Rape Drug/Roofies, Dubious Consent, Kidnapping, Lap Sex, Light Bondage, M/M, Non-Consensual Kissing, Obsession, Omorashi, Oral Sex, Painful Sex, Possessive Behavior, Rape/Non-con Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:13:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 16
Words: 192,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24579604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/huevoplatano/pseuds/huevoplatano
Summary: Raihan whisks Hop away to the darkest parts of the Hammerlocke castle where he just wants one night with him.
Relationships: Hop/Kibana | Raihan
Comments: 279
Kudos: 282





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is HEAVILY inspired by Second Best by Hootax and Jaunty. pls go read it ;-; it's fcking amazing
> 
> ALSO PLEASE HEED THE TAGS y'all know what's up if you've read my stuff before. i do not write nice things so please take care

What the _fuck_ was he doing?

Just what the fuck was he doing?

Raihan sat hunched over his chair, elbows resting on the tops of his knees as he bounced one leg, his hands nervously twiddling around his chin as he stared straight ahead at his bed. Though large and quite roomy enough for himself, it wasn’t the bed’s expanse that he was ogling. Rather, the person he had tied to it.

Every time he stared over at him, Raihan couldn’t believe he had done this. More importantly, how _easy_ it was to do something like this in the first place. Hammerlocke wasn’t that busy with people boarding the trains to head to Wyndon for the championship matches that were about to be underway. It felt like just yesterday the gym challenge had started, and Raihan had been bested by what he thought were rookie trainers—but he got his ass handed to him.

Still.

It shouldn’t have been this _easy_. That kid had stopped after his battle at the stadium to get a cup of coffee and Raihan followed after him, not entirely sure what he was even doing, but following his instinct. And his instinct was telling him to chat the kid up, get him loose enough he was laughing and kidding around as Raihan gushed about what an amazing trainer he was, until he finally offered him a coffee, to which the kid agreed with that dumb grin on his face—the same exact grin as Leon’s. It was no surprise the kid had the same smile as him, but Raihan never expected it to send shivers down his spine when he saw it.

It was like the kid had some weird influence over him, making him go crazy in the head. And while Raihan was no stranger to crushes, or more specifically, his not so secret crush on the champion, that had always been something he’d put on the back burner to deal with later. It wasn’t like he ever intended to tell Leon how he felt. Even Raihan thought it was merely an innocent crush that would go away with time.

And—well. It certainly went away all right. Went away only to make a U turn, catch speed, and pile drive right back into his stomach until he found himself blushing at the sight of that kid’s smile.

_Blushing._

Raihan didn’t…blush. Not like this. Not just because some kid who happened to be Leon’s little brother smiled at him, but holy fuck was it _cute._ However, simply seeing a cute smile from a cute kid who happened to be cute didn’t warrant any of what he’d done.

He still hadn’t recovered from how easy this had been. All he had to do was put the narcotics into the kid’s coffee, the taste blending in when he stirred a fuckton of sugar in with it, and the kid was none the wiser. He drained that cup like nobody’s business, a wide grin on his face the entire time, and they left the café together, Raihan still chatting with him about this and that. Nothing important. Just casual banter. And it hit him. It hit him way faster than Raihan intended and he caught him right then and there on the sidewalk, clutching his arms to keep him steady as the poor kid fell under the influence of the drugs. He mumbled incoherent nonsense to Raihan, mostly about how he had to get to Wyndon, but Raihan assured him he’d get him there.

There was just a little pit stop he’d make along the way. Not like the kid was going to be put out by this. Raihan would take him to the castle (he had a room up there anyway, it’s not like the castle was simply to host battles in the stadium), lock them both up in a wing nobody had access to but Raihan, and he’d have him in Wyndon first thing in the morning. Boom bam, done.

Yeah, it wasn’t the most intricate plan, but Raihan wasn’t one for spending hours upon hours thinking of the perfect scenario—especially since this had more or less been a spur of the moment thing. Even he was shaken with what he’d done, and kept asking himself over and over why the fuck was he even doing this? Surely a kid giving him a _smile_ wasn’t anything to go this fucking overboard for, right?

Ugh. With his knee still bouncing, he placed his face in his hands. This was crazy, he knew he was doing something dangerous and crazy, but part of him just didn’t care. If the kid cooperated, they could both come out of this with a positive outlook, and if he played it safe, he could make it so the kid never even knew it was him.

That’s what the blindfold and ropes were for, after all.

It had been a couple of hours since Raihan spiked his coffee, and the kid was knocked out cold, a steady stream of heavy breaths rising and falling, making him appear so serene, despite how Raihan had his wrists tied, a black blindfold wrapped around his eyes in a very tight knot, courtesy of Raihan. He knew once he woke up, there would be some struggling, but he had at least prepared on that front. If need be, he could tie his wrists above his head so he wouldn’t be enticed to mess with the blindfold and reveal Raihan’s identity, but for now, Raihan would be lenient and let him be as comfortable as possible. However, if things got difficult, Raihan wasn’t above using a little force to make him comply.

Just a little.

The kid stirred, enough to peak Raihan’s interest as he leaned forward in his chair, watching in morbid fascination as the kid made a mumbling sort of muffled groan in his sleep, but he merely stretched his legs a bit before quieting down again. Raihan was sweating, cold beads having formed at the back of his neck and before he could stop himself, he stood from his chair, not knowing why he was nervous now all of a sudden. Had he given the kid too much? No—he was careful, he didn’t exactly measure out the powder by any means (but he trusted the source who gave it to him), but even if he gave him too much, there shouldn’t have been risk of an overdose. What he’d fed the kid wasn’t exactly a well-known narcotic, at least not in the traditional sense.

Yeah, it would knock him out for a bit, but it wasn’t designed to keep him out. Only loosen him up a bit, make him drowsy, and hell—maybe Raihan would be lucky enough once he woke up, he wouldn’t even be in his right mind enough to realize what was happening. Maybe the kid would think this entire thing was a dream.

But still.

The little moan that he made just now when he shifted in his sleep, totally unaware of what Raihan had done, where he’d dragged him off to, it made his hair stand on end until Raihan was sweating. Simply standing over the kid while he was splayed out on his bed like this, it was making Raihan excited. How could someone like this look so…

Raihan’s cheeks gushed again.

…so _beautiful?_

Yeah, Leon was gorgeous, fucking had eyelashes for days, and anytime he so much as looked at Raihan, it made him feel warm and fuzzy deep down, but never had he ever even blushed at Leon before. The fuck made this kid so special? He was Leon’s little brother, they looked a lot alike in certain aspects when it came to their face and eyes, but the kid was so small and scrawny, the opposite to his brother’s more muscular physique.

But maybe in time the kid would grow into his body and—Raihan swallowed, his throat tightening for some reason. He really…the kid really would be beautiful then. Fuck, he was beautiful _now_ but imagining him getting tall, maintaining his slender build, maybe he’d remain slender when he got older, but he would still look a lot like Leon.

Raihan couldn’t believe he’d done this. He had committed a crime, he had drugged someone—a _kid_ —and whisked him away to the darkest corners of the castle nobody would ever find them in, and he was fucking horny. Consequences be damned, Raihan just knew he wanted him. He didn’t know _why_ , but it was clear that if he didn’t get the kid alone like this, run his hands over his body and taste the flavor of his skin, the texture of his own mouth, that Raihan would go fucking insane, maybe even enough to do something twice as horrible as this.

He wasn’t a kidnapper. He wasn’t some perverted creep who walked around stalking gym challengers and stealing them away. Raihan was no stranger to sexual encounters, since as the gym leader, the last gym leader at that, he had his fair share of paparazzi and crazy fans who wanted more than an autograph. Raihan didn’t care. He’d fuck anything that moved as long as it was good for him. He’d bedded men, women, had nights where he’d be tied up to the bed and fucked senseless until he couldn’t see straight anymore, and sometimes multiple partners at the same time (and he also secretly made out with his Goodra but nobody knew about that). But—

He inhaled, taking a huge gulp of air as he tried to steady his beating heart. Point being, he’d been around. Raihan knew what he liked, and he wasn’t exactly into the younger crowd like this, mainly going for people his own age and older, or pining after Leon when he got the chance.

So.

Back to the question of what made this kid so fucking special? He wasn’t Leon.

His throat tightened, because maybe that was it. He _wasn’t_ Leon. He might have looked like him, had the same exact eyes as him, even the same dumbass smile as him, but he wasn’t Leon. And Raihan knew he was doomed from the get-go. It was weird because he remembered going over to Leon’s house when they were teenagers at least once or twice, but the kid had only been a baby then, so he saw him nothing more as a crying, annoying potato that needed a diaper change occasionally. Raihan literally thought nothing of him. _Nothing_.

But as he stood there, looming over the bed, the kid’s breathing soft and steady, his jaw slacked from sleep and his wrists tied in front of him, the blindfold wrapped tightly around his head—Raihan knew he just wanted him. Leon didn’t matter right now. He liked him, he really did, but this kid. This fucking kid made a feeling dip deep down into his stomach until it was like hot coal had settled there, and he knew he would go insane if he didn’t do something about it. Even if that something meant stealing him away, fucking him until Raihan saw stars, and returning him to the real world in the morning.

Gently, very gently, Raihan raised his knee to push into the bed as he crawled his way on top, just barely straddling the kid as he did so. Still unaware of anything happening, the kid only lay below him, pliant, but peaceful, and Raihan placed both palms on either side of him as he crawled on top of him.

How in the fuck was it possible for someone to be so _beautiful?_ Holy shit, his face was heating up being this close to him, and now that he was barely brushing up against him, still trying to be mindful and make sure he didn’t sit on him by accident (he’d crush the poor kid), he could smell the faint scent of whipped cream. Oh _shit_ , he had to chuckle a little at the scent alone, because it was somehow so childish, but suited him all the same. Raihan wondered if he tasted as sweet as he smelled.

Pulling one hand off the bed, he gently dragged his knuckles down the side of the kid’s face and _was his skin soft._ Raihan didn’t expect it, maybe because he was so used to Leon’s facial hair and broader frame, he always felt ‘ _heavier’_ in a strange sense, but—

This kid’s face was soft, smooth, and Raihan couldn’t help himself. Bending over, the kid’s breathing still steady, he brushed his mouth against his, allowing his tongue to slide along the bottom edge of his lip and he could still taste the coffee the kid had drained from before. Raihan huffed, not meaning to, but it made his cock twitch, simply kissing him like this and he had barely even done anything. It was a light kiss, a bit too fleeting for even Raihan’s taste, but he was surprised how excited he was getting on simply indulging in that whipped cream scent and the feeling of the kid’s mouth against his.

His lips were soft too. Why in the hell was everything about this kid _soft?_ It wasn’t fair—wasn’t fair it was driving Raihan crazy. He had a compulsion to sit up, rip his own clothes off, tear the kid’s clothes off, and fuck him wild—but he couldn’t do that. Not to him, not to the poor kid. He didn’t deserve to have his first time be so rough like that. If this was even his first time. Raihan had no idea if he’d ever gotten laid before, but he sure as fuck was going to make sure the kid was moaning for him by the end of it while wrapped around his cock.

He almost felt a little bad no matter how much he could prepare him, it would probably still hurt, since the kid was so much lankier and smaller than him, and well—Raihan wasn’t modest by any means. He knew he was well endowed, but he would make sure the kid was properly cared for anyway. At least enough where he wouldn’t be limping tomorrow. That might be cause for suspicion.

Trailing his thumb along the kid’s mouth, he shuddered when the kid stirred under him, and by doing so, unintentionally brushed his knee against Raihan’s crotch. He almost let out a moan at that, but instead gasped, not expecting it, but definitely not complaining.

“H…Hop…” He just barely whispered his name, the heat in his cheeks still obvious, even to him, which only made him blush harder.

Hop…

That name felt so good when he said it, so used to saying Leon’s name when he’d touch himself to thoughts of getting to do something like this with that dumbass. But, with Hop—

It was almost like he was high. High off something, but he didn’t know what. All he knew was once he accidentally brushed against his crotch, Raihan went with the feeling, rutting his dick back against the kid’s body below him, and causing him to rock back into the bed a bit from Raihan’s eagerness. He let out a muffled moan, but still didn’t stir, and Raihan bent over again, gripping hold of Hop’s chin before giving him another kiss.

He made a smaller moan when he did that and the vibration of it against Raihan’s own mouth made him thrust back into him, his cock twitching again and it was embarrassing, but he knew he would get hard in a moment. So quick, but it was Hop’s doing—it had to be because of this kid. Raihan was drunk off the sensation of his smaller body below him, the way he smelled, and the feeling of his lips that he was losing himself, slowly but surely.

When he leaned off him a second time, face still gushing heat, Raihan noticed him, even now more that he was straddling him, that the kid was trying so hard to come to. It was a little sad, honestly, but it gave Raihan some peace of mind knowing he hadn’t given him too much of the narcotic. Little by little, he was moving his head, trying to move his legs (which Raihan was almost sitting on by this point), and even attempting to move his arms, but wasn’t conscious enough to realize they were bound.

Raihan let out a soft chuckle through his nose, scooting himself back enough he had more room to work with. Hop was just so much smaller, almost dainty? In a way. That he was struggling to maneuver himself that allowed some room to work with. Once he’d backed off enough, Hop still making smaller movements below him, occasionally mumbling nonsensical things Raihan couldn’t make sense of, he gripped hold of the hem of his shirt before pulling it up, exposing Hop’s stomach and chest.

And Raihan _gasped._

Hop’s skin was so smooth, so perfect—how in the _fuck_ was someone so perfect? His stomach was almost flat but had just the beginning signs of a little patch of fat poking underneath his navel, and did Raihan drag his fingers over it, marveling at the feeling of it. He touched Hop like he was made of glass, dragging his nails just enough that it could tickle had he been in his right mind, rubbing circles with his thumb around and around his navel, and when the kid stirred underneath him again, this time his stomach twitching, obviously reacting to Raihan’s touches, he bent over all the way until he was folded in half, and pressed his mouth against him. Hop made a small movement underneath him, a bit more than a twitch, but movement enough Raihan could feel as he allowed his tongue out, dragging it all the way from the kid’s stomach to his chest, and Hop _shivered_ under him.

Raihan couldn’t help but grin. “You like that, babe? Feels good, doesn’t it?”

“Mmm…” Hop only let out a rather weak moan before falling lax once more.

Raihan didn’t mind. Still grinning, he lathered his tongue over Hop’s nipples, being very careful to his more sensitive regions, as he didn’t want to intentionally hurt him by being too eager, but eventually, found himself glued back to his neck. There was something about wanting to cover the kid’s face in kisses and lick down his neck that Raihan couldn’t hold off on doing anymore.

He pressed against his neck, sucking, barely—just barely scraping his teeth against his throat, but Hop moved below him again when he did so.

This time, he pushed out with his hands, though weak, and probably not intentionally, Raihan felt the sensation of the kid trying to separate his wrists as he nudged them against his chest, and Raihan let his tongue back out, licking up the side of his throat as he did so.

“Glo…” The kid was trying so hard to talk, even Raihan felt a little bad he was struggling to come to so much, but the longer he spent out of his head like this, the longer Raihan could indulge. He was already hard, not shy about thrusting against him every once in a while, but not allowing himself to get too carried away at the same time.

But he managed to say a coherent word at last, and Raihan heard it loud and clear.

“…Glo…ri…a…”

He leaned up, palms placed on either side of Hop, and he smiled down at him, not knowing why when he knew it wouldn’t be seen, but he spoke to him, making sure to keep his voice low enough if the kid happened to be in his right mind, he wouldn’t recognize it.

“Gloria ain’t here, kiddo.”

“Wh…ere…”

“Dunno.” A thrust, not hard enough to rock the kid, but enough for Raihan to grind most of his length against him, and _good **fuck** —_if Hop felt this good through their clothes, he was about to go crazy when he wanted his cock inside of him so bad, but he knew he couldn’t. If he got carried away and fucked him without any inhibitions, he could seriously hurt him.

And while he loved being rough to a degree, he wasn’t interested in being _that_ rough with him. Not unless the kid somehow happened to get conscious enough to fight him, but Raihan wasn’t sure if he even wanted that or not. It excited him thinking of holding him down and barking orders at him, but he was going to try his best not to go too hard.

“Probably in Wyndon by now.” Leaning over once more, Raihan kissed his neck, and Hop was conscious enough he could feel the slightest hints of resistance from him when he did so, _and holy **shit** did that get him off. _His cock twitched against Hop as he dry humped him again, Hop once again attempting to pull back, but not able to. That shouldn’t have given Raihan the most amazing sense of satisfaction, but it did.

“I…I have…to go…” And he attempted to lean up.

It was almost hilarious in a way to watch the poor kid try to sit up while Raihan sat on top of him, and he pulled up and off enough just to watch Hop lift his head before falling back down. When he did, Raihan leaned back over and kissed him again. Once more, Hop tried moving away, but couldn’t manage much.

“Sorry, kid, that ain’t happening. Least not yet. I got plans for you, at least for tonight, but I promise you’ll be back in Wyndon first thing in the morning.”

“Who…?” Barely, just barely, his voice was gaining more and more life to it, and as he squirmed around below him, Raihan could feel he was coming back faster and faster. That…wasn’t what he was hoping would happen, but it could be dealt with.

“Don’t worry about who I am, just focus on relaxing and we can both have a good time, alright?”

“A good…time?” And he let out a gasp, surprising Raihan when he lifted his head again, this time able to keep it up off the bed long enough to try leaning over on his elbows, but he fumbled with the ropes around his wrists, not able to get a good hold on himself before Raihan had his hand placed against his chest, trying to usher him back down.

“Calm down, kid, don’t panic. You’re in a safe place, I promise you. I’m not gonna hurt you. I just wanted to borrow you for a bit.”

Faster, he could feel his legs trying to pull out from under him, but Raihan had enough of his weight pressed down, the kid was going absolutely nowhere unless he moved. But it was worrying him a bit just how much he was pulling himself out of this. Raihan figured he’d be out of it for at least another hour or two, but while he was still slurring a bit, he could definitely hear the tone of fear in his voice.

“Who are you?” Pulling at the ropes on his wrist, Hop attempted to yank his arms apart, but failed, the fear piling into his voice more and more until Raihan could hear a definitive quake to it. It almost made him feel guilty. Almost.

“Kid, don’t panic, I told you, you’re safe--”

“Where’s Lee?”

Ugh—somehow that name sounded so bitter to him and he didn’t know why. Wasn’t Raihan the one with a crush on Leon? Why did hearing this kid say his name, his nickname for him no less, make a frown appear on his face?

Because it’d be so much sweeter if he said _Raihan’s_ name instead, but he couldn’t allow that. The kid wasn’t supposed to ever find out he’s the one who did this.

“The champion isn’t here either. Listen to me, okay, and this--” But before he could even finish his sentence, Hop reached up in an attempt to rip the blindfold off.

No sooner had his fingers grasped the bottom, than Raihan had hold of him, his entire hand and fingers easily wrapping around Hop’s arm as he yanked them not so gently away from his face. His heart was pounding, mainly because he didn’t think he’d be coherent enough to do that, but also from how easily his cover was almost blown.

“Do. _Not_.” And his voice had lowered into a growl at this point, enough he could see Hop freezing at the sound of it, but it got his attention at least. “Don’t you _dare_ touch that. I’m not about being cruel to you, I was even going to try and be nice, but if you do that again, I’ll make you regret it. Got it?”

A moment of silence passed, a moment way too long as the only sounds Raihan could hear were Hop’s stilted breathing, seeing the way his chest rose and fell in rapid session, but he nodded.

That didn’t mean Raihan trusted him. The kid was still groggy, even if his voice was climbing out of that slurring state, he could tell he was still out of it, and probably wasn’t taking his words as seriously as he ought to. But, Raihan could always _convince_ him later on down the road. But for now—

“Good. Now just lie there and keep still.” Still being mindful of any movements Hop might attempt to make, Raihan gingerly leaned off him, keeping an eye out in case he made a move for the blindfold, but he appeared to have taken his threat seriously. As he moved, Hop only lie there, breathing hardening the longer he did, but as Raihan moved back to his exposed stomach, brushing his fingers across the kid’s navel, Hop flinched away from him. Raihan laughed through his nose. “Relax, I ain’t gonna hurt you.”

“What do you want?” Slight slurs were still mixed into his words, giving Raihan more confidence he might not remember this entire ordeal (though expecting the kid to forget this entire thing happened at all was pushing it), but he felt good at least that he might not remember specific details. The narcotics weren’t a memory eraser by any means, but they did have some pretty slippery side effects when it came to recalling certain things, and Raihan hoped the kid wouldn’t remember some of this at least.

After all, he just wanted one night—just one night to indulge all he wanted, get this weird feeling out of his system already, drop the kid off in Wyndon tomorrow, and he’d be done. He could forget this ever happened and move on.

But, in answer to Hop’s question, he only chuckled, the low rumble loud enough in the back of his throat he was sure Hop could hear it too. “I want _you_ , babe.” Again, he attempted to drag the pads of his fingers down along Hop’s stomach, but he squirmed underneath him.

“Wh-what are you doing?” That quake in his voice was beginning to turn into panic, and Raihan tried his best to coax him down. He didn’t want him freaking out on him and making this more difficult than it had to be.

“Nothing bad, so don’t worry. Just lie there and enjoy it.”

“Wha—” But Raihan thrusted his erection against him, and the gasp that Hop made shouldn’t have sent shivers down his spine, but holy _fucking **shit**_ —he let out a moan at the sensation of it, at the sound of Hop’s quivering voice as he rubbed his entire length against him, and he knew Hop could feel it. There was no damn way he hadn’t. Fuck, he wanted to fuck him so bad, he could hardly stand it.

At the feeling of his cock rubbing against him, he could see Hop try to squirm out from under him again, but his ministrations were slow and sluggish, which at least put Raihan’s mind at ease he was more groggy than he let on. Maybe it was only his voice giving a false front the kid was sober when he probably wouldn’t be able to stand right now. Still—Raihan reached up to cup the side of his cheek, feeling Hop tremble underneath his touch, attempting to fling his head to the side, but he only breathed harder, and even through the blindfold, Raihan could see his brow pinching underneath. He was probably scared to death, probably realizing with each passing second just what exactly Raihan was going to do to him. “Shh, there there, kid, don’t worry.”

Despite his efforts, Hop shivered underneath him, and when he opened his mouth to speak, Raihan almost felt his heart drop at the way his voice was absolutely coated in fear. “A-are you g-gonna—gonna kill me?”

His eyes widened, and he released his hand from Hop’s cheek, bending over him again and wishing he could take the blindfold off—but _dammit_ , he couldn’t risk Hop knowing this was him. He would just have to try harder to calm him down. “The hell—no! Why would I kill you? Holy shit—I’m just—” Even he couldn’t finish that sentence. He was just what? What the hell was all this really about? Raihan didn’t just pluck random kids off the street, whisk them away to the castle, and sleep with them. He wasn’t a criminal, he wasn’t attracted to people like Hop.

So…what the fuck was he doing, then? It couldn’t have simply been based on his lust, because while Raihan knew he could be just as horny of a bastard as any other person, he also wasn’t the type of person to act on a whim like this. Not drugging someone (Leon’s fucking little brother of all people), and not kidnapping them, blindfolding them so they couldn’t see him where he could get off scot-free.

Every time he touched him, Hop would tremble, flinch away from him, and it was making Raihan a little frustrated he wouldn’t just lie there and enjoy how hard he was trying to remain gentle with him. He knew he couldn’t blame him, because he was scared to death and groggy from drugs, but it irked him, nonetheless. “Kid, I’m not interested in hurting you, so don’t worry. I promise I’m going to take you to Wyndon in the morning, alright?”

Hop’s lip trembled. “D-do you wa-w-want ransom?”

“No. I got money.”

“Y-you’re not gonna—” He swallowed, his throat so tight that Raihan could hear the audible choke it made as he struggled to get it down. “Are you g-gonna…”

It was obvious where Hop was going with that one, at least to Raihan it was, and he had to let out a smile at it. Least he could do was save the kid the embarrassment of having to say the words himself. “Sleep with you? Hell yeah I am.”

At that, Hop lifted up off the bed again, and again, Raihan pushed him back with a firm shove to his chest. “W-wait!”

“If you struggle like that, I won’t be able to properly prepare you.” With one hand planted firmly on Hop’s chest, his frame still straddling him where he was sure he couldn’t crawl out from under him, Raihan used his free hand to gently tug his trousers down his hips.

“Wait—dammit, _wait_!” It surprised him a little to hear him swear, especially in that tone of voice, slightly slurred still, but risen in pitch when he was obviously panicking, but Raihan didn’t let up. There wasn’t much Hop could do with his wrists bound, and the way Raihan had him pinned to the bed, he was pretty much stuck there unless Raihan decided to move. And he wasn’t about to do that anytime soon.

“Don’t tell me what to do. If you keep struggling, I’m not going to hold back. You don’t wanna be walking around Wyndon with a limp, do you?” Of course, he would never intentionally _hurt_ Hop, but a little bit of negative reinforcement never hurt anyone. If trying to calm him down didn’t work, Raihan would just _make_ him. “Relax, kid, you’ll be moaning around my cock soon enough.”

And Hop made a gurgling sort of choke underneath him, causing Raihan to stop what he was doing only for a moment once he’d yanked his trousers down to his knees. He looked up to see Hop breathing even harder, almost hyperventilating at this point, and Raihan could have sworn he felt his heart racing underneath his palm that was still holding onto his chest, but he wasn’t sure.

“W-wait, please! I-I don’t know who you are—you don’t have to do this!”

“You not knowing who I am is _exactly_ why I’m doing this.” His words were sounding crueler and crueler the longer they had this back and forth, and Raihan was getting impatient. He was already hard— _hell_ , he’d been hard before the kid even woke up, and now he was getting frustrated that they weren’t fucking right now.

“I can give you money!”

“Already said I don’t want money.”

“Th-there’s gotta be something you want!” The pitch in his voice was so high, the kid sounded close to tears and Raihan let out a huge sigh, finally leaning up before removing his hand from his chest, trying not to let Hop feel so trapped, but knowing it wouldn’t do much good in the end.

“You’re right. I _do_ want something.” He pulled Hop’s trousers off, fumbling with them when they tangled around his scrawny ankles, but finally getting his skinny little ass out of them where he could marvel at his underwear. Hop was wearing the kind of briefs that hugged his hips just slightly enough they weren’t exactly boxers either, but holy _fuck_ , did they show off him nicely. Even from here, Raihan could see his bulge, and almost _drooled_ at the sight of it. He’d never wanted to suck a cock so bad in his life, but just as he pulled back the elastic of Hop’s briefs, the kid whimpered underneath him, squirming enough Raihan could notice, but not enough to maneuver out from under him.

“Pl-please don’t do this! L-Leon is my brother, we can—we can get you whatever it is you want, I promise!”

“Oh, I know all about the champion being your brother, babe, but don’t worry, you’re gonna give me exactly what I want right now.”

When he dragged the elastic down and over Hop’s cock, discarding his underwear off the side of the bed, Raihan almost lost all his composure. He was just a kid.

Just.

A fucking _kid._

And Raihan literally gasped at the sight of it. Here he was, having kidnapped a kid, a fucking barely teenaged kid off the streets—a kid who was his best friend’s brother no less, and he was about to fuck him. He was about to suck his cock and Raihan was _loving_ it. His own cock twitched at the sight below him and he couldn’t help it. Grinding his erection into the side of Hop’s leg, gaining another sharp inhale from the kid, Raihan gently took hold of his dick before putting his mouth over it.

“Wh-what are you—” And the sound he made.

The fucking _sound_ Hop made was the most beautiful sound Raihan had ever heard him make. It was a gasp, but not like the ones filled with fear he’d done before—no, he sucked in air between his teeth, Raihan could hear him, and the smallest—the absolute smallest of moans climbed out of his throat, and Raihan wasted no more time. Cupping the underside of Hop’s thigh, he hoisted him up enough where he could reach his ass, and he dragged his fingers along, enjoying the feeling of it cupping perfectly in his hands. He knew the kid had a nice ass, it was no secret, but did he really have to wear those tight trousers to show it off even more? No wonder he was so horny for him—kid certainly had that to be proud of.

Raihan squeezed him, gaining a rather adorable-sounding yelp from Hop when he did so, and he laughed through his nose, his mouth still firmly wrapped around his cock. He hadn’t started moving yet, wanting to enjoy the feeling of it first, but slowly, very slowly, he bobbed up off it, sucking it like he was enjoying the best fucking meal of his life. Hop squirmed underneath him, and he wondered if he could trust him enough to not reach up and tear the blindfold off, but from where Raihan could lift his head enough and look up, it appeared Hop had indeed taken his threat seriously and was unmoving. Well—unmoving on that front at least. With Raihan bobbing up and down on his cock, he was wriggling underneath him, and it was driving Raihan crazy. Whenever he could, as awkward as it was, he would grind against him, moaning at the feeling of his erection pressing into him as he sucked.

“Nn—stop…” But Hop’s words only fell flat.

In no time, Hop grew hard in his mouth, and Raihan wanted to laugh at how fast he was getting off but focused on tickling him with his free hand as he explored the underside of his thighs, the top of his crotch, the underside of his legs. Deliberate as he could, Raihan raked his nails against him, not enough to scratch, but enough for a tickle, and it gave him immense satisfaction to feel Hop trembling under his touch. When he tasted precum in his mouth, Raihan thought he was going to lose it. He grinded into him again, feeling Hop moan below him, but when the kid thrusted into his mouth, he almost lifted him up and fucked him right then and there.

But, he didn’t. Raihan kept hold of himself, as hard as it was—as fucking hard as he was trying his best not to let his desire take control of him, he continued squeezing parts of Hop’s thighs and ass, tickling here and there enough to give him more feeling as he sucked the precum from the tip of his cock. This kid was going to be the end of him, he knew it. He knew there was a reason he was drawn to him, and it was this, this raw sensation of letting his lust out, Raihan was drunk off it, off the way Hop sounded when he moaned, the feeling of his hips rutting up into him as he sucked him, as he wanted so bad to praise him for being such a good boy for him.

Then he arched backward, spasming as he let out a slew of breathy moans, and Raihan kept his gag reflex in check when he felt the kid fucking _explode_ in his mouth. There was so much of it—but he swallowed. He swallowed every last drop of Hop’s cum in his mouth, licking up and down his length to completely clean him before he lifted his head, and the sight of Hop’s flushed face, the sound of his heavy breathing as he came down slowly from his orgasm was enough to drive Raihan wild.

But instead, he let out a soft laugh, leaning up enough he hovered over Hop’s now much calmer and stiffened form. “Damn, babe, had I known you were gonna be that eager, I would’ve sucked your cock ages ago.” He grinned, wishing Hop could see, but he was so pleased he hadn’t messed with the blindfold at all. Least he could do was praise him for it. “Must really enjoy my company, huh? I knew you would be a good boy for me.”

“Please…” Hop’s breathing was still hard, almost raspy at this point, but he continued to breathe heavy and steady, even as he spoke. “P-please let me go.”

“Can’t, babe.” Raihan shrugged, more out of the need to simply make the movement when it was useless since Hop couldn’t even see him, but he did it anyway. “Not until I’ve fucked you.”

“Wh…” Hop swallowed, and Raihan could feel him trembling underneath him again, his words shaking as much as his body was. “What are you—th-there has to be something I can do. Please.”

Honestly, despite the kid’s rather calm demeanor, Raihan was surprised he hadn’t gotten too flighty on him this entire time. Even with the drugs still making him groggy, he expected the kid to pitch a fit and start screaming, but maybe Raihan really _did_ give him too much. He wasn’t putting up as much of a fight as he thought he would, but that wasn’t something Raihan was exactly upset about.

Still. He had to keep on his toes, wondering if maybe the kid was trying to lure him into a false sense of security. Maybe he wasn’t as lethargic as he made out to be. Maybe he was going to try and play on Raihan’s sympathy before trying to make a run for it.

But for now, he would play along, at least until Hop gave him a reason not to. “I’ll tell you what you can do for me.” He smiled, watching as Hop tensed below him, his breathing becoming ragged once more.

“Wh…what?”

“Give me a _biiiig_ kiss—like you can’t get enough of me. Do that and maybe we can make a compromise.” That was a lie. Raihan was going to fuck him regardless, but he couldn’t help to tease him a little. Damn, now he wished he hadn’t swallowed all of his cum. It would’ve been fun to snowball the kid and see his reaction, but oh well. Couldn’t be helped.

Again, Hop tensed below him, and Raihan watched as he fidgeted his hands, like the rope was chafing his wrists and he was uncomfortable. Well, he had to tie them tight enough he couldn’t undo them, but he would tend to that later, because he couldn’t be bothered to worry about that right now.

Finally, he spoke. “N-no…”

Raihan leaned back until he wasn’t hovering over him anymore, but continued straddling him, and let out a long, drawn out sigh. “Too bad. Guess I’ll just fuck you then.” Without waiting for a response, he pulled himself up before lifting the kid’s legs, exposing his bottom, and Hop shrieked when he propped him up until Hop was basically in his lap. Pulling his thighs apart, he sat between his legs so that Hop couldn’t close them, one hand gripping under his thigh to hoist him up, and the other dragging along the underside of his ass. Hop yelped when his thumb prodded at his entrance, but he didn’t push it in yet.

“Wait! Waitwaitwait!” His words were muddled together, only a hint of a slur there, but Raihan stopped what he was doing, not moving his thumb, but giving the kid a squeeze on his butt before smiling.

“Hmm? Changed your mind?”

With a short huff of air, Hop trembled below him, still attempting to pull his wrists apart, but failing miserably. Through his tremors, his mouth quivered, and he stuttered when he answered. “O-okay. Okay— _okay_ , I-I’ll kiss you. J-just don’t touch me like that.”

Raihan grinned, removing his thumb from his ass before he placed both hands around the kid’s thighs. “Lean up then.”

Tentatively, as though afraid he might make him angry or like he was doing something he wasn’t supposed to be, Hop slowly leaned up, trying his hardest to use his elbows to help prop himself, but with his wrists tied, he was struggling and Raihan had to laugh at him.

“Need some help?”

Without waiting for a response, he released Hop’s thighs to reach around and place both palms on his back, pulling him up the rest of the way and into his lap. Hop gasped as he was now straddling Raihan, and Raihan was honestly taken aback by how easily the kid lifted in his arms. He had carried him all the way here, yeah, but—he wasn’t really paying attention back then, focused more on simply getting him here than anything else. But damn—the kid felt so small in his lap, and now that he had him sitting on top of him, Raihan could feel his tremors even more than he had when he was lying beneath him.

Rubbing his palm in a soothing circle around his back, he patted at him, trying the best he could to soothe his worries. “Don’t be scared, kiddo. You’ve kissed someone before, right?”

No response.

Raihan blinked. Oh fuck—had Hop never kissed anyone before? On top of probably never getting laid either? Honestly, that kind of…made Raihan excited at the prospect of being Hop’s first kiss, even though he had kissed him a few times before he came to, that was _Raihan_ still making the first move, not Hop. He didn’t know why, but his erection twitched against Hop’s bottom, the kid no doubt feeling all of it now that he was basically sitting on him.

It was so hard to resist the urge to just fuck him senseless. Holy shit, Raihan never had to hold off this much before in an attempt to make sure his partner was comfortable. Well—maybe Hop wasn’t as comfortable as he would have liked, but he still had no intentions of making this absolutely awful for him. He wanted him moaning for more when they did this, he wanted the kid to grab his face and pull him in for a kiss that would suffocate the both of them while they fucked.

But that wasn’t going to happen. Raihan knew that.

So, for now, he let out a soft sigh, reaching up to ruffle the back of the kid’s hair, causing him to flinch. “It’s not a big deal. I can lead, but—” He swallowed, trying not to be _too_ lenient in case the kid thought he was going to get away with not participating. “You gotta move with me too. Kiss me like you _mean_ it. Pretend I’m someone else, hell, I don’t care. Pretend I’m your girlfriend or something.” Though, that was easier said than done. Hop’s little friend wasn’t exactly—uh. Raihan’s physique.

Before Hop could say anything, Raihan leaned into him, kissing him, expecting Hop to do the same and kiss back, but the kid jolted backward, almost falling out of his lap when he did so, and Raihan frowned, already having enjoyed how soft his lips were, but having them ripped away so suddenly put him off.

“Wait! I’m not ready.” And Hop’s face gushed red, making Raihan only grumble in discomfort, because every time he saw the kid blush, he had to resist going wild at him. _Fuck_ , he was making this so hard.

“Well, _get_ ready, because I’m kissing you again.” Hop opened his mouth to protest, but Raihan was good on his word and leaned in, kissing him again. This time when he felt the kid flinch backward, he reached up, grabbing the back of his head, and pulled, where he had absolutely no where to go, and kissed him _hard_. There was resistance below him, Raihan could feel it as Hop tensed up, trying to push against his chest as well as he could in the binds, but he grumbled, the sound vibrating in his throat when he leaned off a second time.

Just because Raihan was leading didn’t mean Hop could get away with not at least trying.

“You’re supposed to be kissing back.”

Hop’s lip trembled. “S-sorry, I’m just—” He swallowed, shivering in Raihan’s arms. “I-I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

“Just kiss me back. Thought we had an agreement here. Or…” Grinning, Raihan bucked his hips up, rubbing his erection against Hop’s bottom and causing him to gasp. “Do you just wanna fuck?”

Hop didn’t hesitate before replying. “N-no! I-I’ll kiss you, I promise.”

“Good.” Without giving him any time to prepare himself, Raihan was back on him, pulling his head back into him as he kissed, and to his surprise, he could feel the kid growing stiff under him, but without that resistance from before. He wasn’t exactly kissing him with as much conviction as Raihan was, but he supposed it didn’t really matter. Try as he might to shove his tongue down his throat, Hop wasn’t budging and kept his teeth clamped shut. Ugh, Raihan knew he was going to do that, but as bad as he wanted Hop to open his damn mouth, he knew that wasn’t going to happen.

With the hand he had placed against Hop’s back, he slowly started trailing it down, feeling the curvature of his spine through his shirt, until his fingers were brushing the top of his butt once again. Hop shivered, but didn’t move, even as Raihan continued kissing him, dragging his bottom lip up from his, peppering his jaw with more kisses, until going back to his mouth, and still, Hop never moved. That definitely wasn’t part of the bargain, so there wasn’t much Raihan could do if he refused to cooperate. Hop may have just been shy and unsure what to do, but even though he wasn’t pulling away, he _still_ wasn’t kissing him, and Raihan had run out of patience.

He gripped hold of Hop’s asscheek and squeezed, gaining a muffled yelp from him, but not enough for Raihan to invade his opened mouth. He feared if he shoved his tongue in, the kid might bite him, and that would make him angry, he knew. If he got angry, he knew without a doubt, he wouldn’t hold back then and accidentally hurt the kid.

But the moment his fingers trailed lower down his ass, until he could feel his entrance, Raihan prodded him, not pushing anything in at all, but Hop flinched when he did, and yanked his head to the side, breaking the kiss.

“Wh-what are you doing?!”

Another prod, another tremble from the kid until Raihan feared he might jump from his lap, but he shrugged. “You aren’t kissing me like you’re supposed to, so I’m just gonna fuck you.”

“No!” And he shoved against his chest, throwing Raihan for a loop when it actually knocked some of the air out of him, but he quickly wrapped his arm around him, pulling Hop close to his chest as he began thrashing. “No! NONO, PLEASE! I’M SORRY, I-I’LL TRY HARDER!”

Raihan growled, trying his hardest to keep his hold on him, but Hop was no longer slurring his words, no longer moving with lethargy and he knew the drugs were probably worn off enough he was going to have to get rough with him. Fuck, he hadn’t wanted it to come to this, but— “Kid—dammit, quit moving! I’m not gonna hurt you!”

“NO, LET ME GO! D-DON’T TOUCH ME!”

Gripping him harder, Raihan pulled him so close he could feel the kid’s own dick rubbed up against him, and he couldn’t help when he thrusted into him at the feeling. His patience was shot, and his desire was coming to a boiling point. “Do I have to gag you too? Because I will, don’t think I won’t, kid, now shut the hell up, it won’t hurt.” He knew he was being cruel to him, but Raihan didn’t care. If the kid had kept his end of the bargain, maybe he would’ve been a little nicer, but now that was out the window.

“LET GO OF ME! _PLEASE!_ ” Hop struggled as Raihan continued holding him, no doubt probably squeezing the life out of him as he kept his arm wrapped around him, trying not to moan every time the kid thrashed and brushed against his dick.

Raihan couldn’t take it anymore.

With an irritated huff of air, he unraveled his arm from around Hop, the kid still screaming and panicking, and shoved him back onto the bed. He attempted to pull his legs up and kick him, but Raihan was too fast—hovering over him, grabbing hold of his chest to keep him flattened to the bed before he sat on his legs. At this point, his own erection was leaking precum, and he could see the stain on his shorts, making him moan at the sensation, but he was tired of waiting.

“Hop, I’m going to gag you if you don’t shut up! I warned you, now what’s it gonna be, huh? You want me to tape your mouth shut and fuck you raw until you’re limping, or do you want to lie there like a good boy and let me prepare you? This is _your_ choice to make, now make it _right now._ ” Way too late, Raihan realized he said his name, but he only froze for a moment, hoping Hop was too panicked to realize he knew who he was. Maybe in his frenzy, he wouldn’t think about it.

But his threat seemed to work, at least for now. Hop stopped struggling, only breathing hard, and he could hear the start of sobs beginning to bubble in the back of his throat. “D-don’t—don’t gag me, please.” He trembled, Raihan feeling every shiver that he made below him, and he had a sneaking suspicion the kid was crying, but through the black blindfold, he couldn’t be sure.

Raihan sighed, removing one hand from Hop’s chest to fumble with his shorts, finally pulling them down over his erection and allowing it to breathe. “I won’t, kid, I won’t. Just be good for me, okay? I told you I’m not interested in hurting you, but I will if you don’t keep quiet.”

“Please let me go.”

“I can’t—I’m _not._ ”

When he pulled his shorts down over his hips, exposing his entire erection, Raihan leaned off Hop enough to fit himself back between his legs, and when he rubbed the tip of his cock against Hop’s entrance, a horribly choked sob gurgled from his throat when Raihan smeared his precum up against him.

“P-please, d-d-don’t do this to me.”

“It won’t hurt if you let me prepare you.”

And he must have been crying, because Hop’s teeth were gritted shut, his entire body trembling as Raihan removed his cock from his ass, replacing his fingers there instead, smearing his precum along it, before inserting one finger into him.

Hop whimpered, not able to close his legs with Raihan sitting in between him as he fingered him, stretching him and scissoring, hoping his precum was enough lube for him at the moment.

He was definitely crying now, as when Hop spoke, his voice was masked with overwhelming horror and desperation, words coming out in chopped heaps as he tried his hardest to speak. “P-please, i-i-it’s gonna hurt—it’ll _hurt_ —please, don’t—I-I don’t w-want it to hurt--I’m _scared!_ ”

Raihan scissored back and forth, gaining more uncomfortable sounds from Hop as he did so, but he let out a sigh. Least he could do was try to give the kid a little comfort. “I’m going to use lube, don’t worry. I’ll be as gentle as I can, alright? Just don’t panic, or you could hurt yourself.”

“Please…don’t do this to me.”

But Raihan was done talking with him. If he waited any longer, he would go insane, so he moved his fingers in and out of him, stretching him as far as he could go without it being his cock, before removing his hand, reaching over momentarily to nab a bottle of lube from the bedside drawer, and poured a handful into his palm. Hop trembled below him but seemed to have tuckered himself out with all the struggling he’d done, as he only lay there quietly sobbing while Raihan coated his cock all the way to the hilt with the substance. When he placed the tip of his erection back against Hop’s entrance, the kid shuddered below him, flinching back from him, but Raihan gave him a soft pat to his thigh.

“Don’t be scared, babe. You’re doing good, now just try to relax, okay?”

His only response was a quieted sob, but there was nothing more Raihan could offer Hop before he slowly pushed his cock into him, not even all the way, but the reaction was immediate. Hop bucked backward, causing Raihan to grip hold of his thigh to keep him steady, and he let out an array of choked gasps, hissing through his teeth.

Raihan gripped hold of his thigh to try and pull him back to him, but Hop had managed to jolt backward enough that he ended up forcing Raihan out of him as he lurched back, and he grumbled at the feeling of it, trying not to get angry, but holy _fuck_ —the kid was blue-balling him at this point.

“It hurts! It hurts—it—”

“Stop moving!” Gripping hold of both his thighs, Raihan dug his fingers into him, probably a bit too hard as the kid winced, but he pulled him back onto his erection, sinking Hop all the way down on him this time, knowing he had shoved into him way too hard, and Hop let out a scream when he did.

“STOP! IT _HURTS!_ ”

Raihan pulled out, his heart thumping in his chest as he hadn’t meant to do that, but he was getting desperate. To finally have his cock inside of him, it was hard to remember he had to be gentle, but he could hear the way the sobs were clawing out of Hop’s throat, and he knew at this point, there wasn’t much he could do to ensure his comfort anymore.

“I know it hurts a little but try to calm down. If you keep moving like that, it’ll only hurt worse.”

Hop’s breathing only worsened, until he was choking and gasping, crying so hard that Raihan could see plain as day the wet spots on his blindfold, the sheen on his cheeks from the tears that had managed to leak through, and he had to look away from his face. He hadn’t wanted him to cry, and he couldn’t deny how fucking awful it made him feel to know he had accidentally hurt him by being too eager, but he slowly thrusted in and out of him, being as gentle as he could, but Hop quieted down a considerable amount once he created a rhythm.

Raihan released his grip from his thighs and could already see the beginning signs of bruises where he’d held him too hard, and mentally cursed himself. He sometimes forgot his own strength, but he could worry about that later. For now, he moved back and forth, gently, rocking the kid into the bed as he did so, but Hop was breathing much steadier now, giving him an indication he was getting used to him at least.

“Does it hurt?”

Hop didn’t respond, just cringed and grit his teeth as Raihan rocked into him, gaining more speed. It had taken all of his willpower to hold off his orgasm for so long, but now that Hop was wrapped around him, he was losing himself. But, as long as the kid wasn’t screaming and begging him to stop, he doubted it hurt that much anymore. Maybe the pain even felt good by this point.

Still, Raihan tried his best to coax him along, get him as comfortable as he could manage. “Just relax. You’re doing so good for me, babe.” And the longer he thrusted into him, the more Raihan couldn’t hold back his moans. He was always the noisier one when it came to fucking, but with Hop’s heat covering his cock, he couldn’t hold back and moaned as he went into him over and over.

The image of Hop being rock back beneath him was one Raihan wanted to stare at forever and ever, but his own breathing was becoming ragged, and he might come too quickly if he didn’t back off a bit. Raihan wanted to hold off on coming as long as he physically could stand it, wanting to see Hop wrapped around his cock for as long as possible.

Even still, he smiled down at him, wishing he could kiss him, wishing Hop was the one in his lap, grabbing the back of his head and making out with him like Raihan was a drug he couldn’t get enough of. Fuck—he wanted that so bad, he couldn’t stand it.

The kid was just lying there and taking it and Raihan fucking. Hated that. He _hated_ seeing him cringe like that, simply lying there breathing and waiting it out. He didn’t want Hop to do that—he hadn’t wanted Hop to just take him like this and do nothing. Raihan groaned, though more out of frustration than pleasure, before he released one of Hop’s thighs, and wrapped his hand around his dick instead.

The gasp Hop let out, finally making some kind of reaction that wasn’t just gritting his teeth shut made Raihan almost lose it, but he caught himself. _Don’t come._ Not now, not just yet. He wanted Hop moaning for him. He wanted to hear the kid fucking gasping with pleasure as he was fucked—he wanted to hear him call his name so bad that Raihan couldn’t stand it.

As he rocked into him, gaining a bit more speed, enough that Hop was pushed back into the bed with every thrust he made, Raihan pumped him, the most wonderful—the most _beautiful_ sounds seeping from Hop’s mouth when he did that. Holy fuck, how was it possible for someone to make sounds like this? It was driving Raihan crazy.

“Y-you’re so beautiful, babe—f-fuck, I—I—you feel so good around my cock like this. Y-you know that? You feel so good.”

Hop said nothing, but when Raihan heard the smallest of moans bubble from the back of his throat when he grew hard in his hands, he couldn’t take it anymore. Running purely on his desire, his sexual lust, Raihan bent over far enough when he released Hop’s cock, and pulled him up from the bed, propping him as carefully as he could into his lap so that Hop was sitting on him, his cock still buried inside. And he kissed him, still thrusting up into him, feeling Hop’s whole body bouncing up, Raihan was lost in his lust, lost in the feeling of everything, the sensation of Hop, the smell of Hop, the—

Grabbing his arms, Raihan pulled them up and over his own head, essentially trapping Hop in a permanent hug with him, the rope from his wrists digging into the back of Raihan’s neck, but it gave him even more room to kiss him. Hop was stuck to him, with his arms around him, tied where he couldn’t get away, to his cock still inside, there was absolutely nowhere for Hop to go, but lie there and take it.

Raihan pressed his mouth to him, moaning into him, losing himself as he fisted his hair, trying to be mindful of the knot from the blindfold, but he couldn’t help himself. He was overcome with lust, thrusting in and out of him faster and faster, his orgasm creeping, but he reached down with a free hand to continue pumping Hop, and he wouldn’t be satisfied until the kid came for him.

“M-move…” Raihan thrusted, bouncing Hop in his lap. “F-fuck, _move_ with me, kid. F-feels so good.” He kissed him harder, crushing his mouth to his and only receiving a strangled moan from Hop when he did so. He hadn’t bothered trying to disguise his voice anymore, too lost in his lust to remember he was supposed to be speaking differently, but he just didn’t give a fuck right now.

Raihan closed his eyes, releasing the kiss only to push Hop’s head into the crook of his own neck as he moved in and out of him. He focused only on the feeling as he bounced him up and down, and he didn’t even know if Hop was rocking his hips with him, but he didn’t care.

With a small, strangled sound, Raihan stroked the kid’s cock before he felt a small amount of cum spurt out, Hop arching backward as he came a second time, and Raihan lost it. He hadn’t moaned for him as loud as he wanted, but the feeling of that in his hands—he could’t take it.

Pulling his face out from his neck, Raihan gripped the back of Hop’s head, probably nabbing his hair and pulling when he hadn’t meant to and kissed him. His other hand grabbed hold of his ass and forcibly pulled him up and down as he thrusted harder and faster.

Hop only let out a cry before Raihan shoved his tongue into his mouth, no longer concerned with him biting on him or not, but so lost in the feeling of everything happening at once, he was going crazy. When his orgasm hit him, Raihan swore he saw stars, and fucked himself on the kid harder as he came all inside of him, thrusting up and down _harder_ — ** _harder_** —wanting to pump himself dry of all that he had, and he kissed Hop so much that he forgot to breathe while the kid gasped under him.

He pulled off, going for his neck, and Raihan sucked, kissing as he rode himself out, as he fucked the kid with no inhibitions, just focused on the feeling of it, the feeling of his cum exploding all inside of him, and the strangled moan that Hop made at it when he finally came down from his high.

Raihan sucked his neck, scraping his teeth against him, and making as many hickeys as he could in that moment, but his orgasm finally died, and he fell limp, Hop in his arms, Hop breathing hard, his arms still wrapped around Raihan’s neck, but quieted, and Raihan focused on breathing as he pulled Hop closer to him.

“Y-you did so good, babe. I-I fucking— _holy shit._ ” And he held onto him like Hop might blow away in the wind if he did, Raihan indulged in the feeling of him simply being in his arms, the scent of his hair, the slow way Hop breathed against his chest, slow and steady, and he hugged him, wishing he could just keep him forever, wishing he didn’t have to take him back.

There was a moment of silence the both of them spent breathing, and Raihan was about to lift him up and pull out of him, he was already planning to clean the both of them, even going to offer the kid a shower, but—

Hop spoke.

His voice was low, soft, but it made Raihan’s stomach drop.

“Rai…han…?”

And he pulled back from the hug, drawing the kid’s arms up and off from him as he leaned away, the sight of his bloodshot eyes that were wide with horror the only thing Raihan could focus on in that moment, and his own hands had begun to tremble as he gripped hold of Hop’s shoulders.

In his excitement and at some point during all that, the blindfold had fallen from his face, and Hop stared up at him with eyes so wide, so bloodshot, so stained with tears that Raihan thought they might fall out of his head. Raihan must have had the same exact look on his face, but all he could think in that moment, even as Hop began to cry again, even as that look of horror in his eyes turned to what Raihan could only describe as betrayal, all he could think of in that moment was—

Fuck.

Oh _fuck_. Oh fuckohfuckohfuckohfuck—this wasn’t supposed to happen. He fucked up. Raihan fucked up—he fucked up _he fucked up **he fucked**_ —

With his stomach drawn in knots, Hop quietly crying in his arms, Raihan knew then and there—

There was no going to Wyndon in the morning. There would be no returning the kid. He could drug him all he wanted, but he had seen his face and no amount of that narcotic would be enough for him to forget something like that.

Raihan gulped, his heart pounding, the back of his neck broken out in a cold sweat, and he had never come down from the high of orgasm so fucking fast in his life. Because there was only one thing on his mind as he sat there holding onto the kid who cried quietly on his lap, Raihan’s heart pounding so hard, it was painful in his chest.

Hop wasn’t going anywhere. Not anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you guys so much for all your comments and feedback on the first chapter! ;o; you wanted more, so you got it!

Hop’s quieted crying quickly turned to smaller sniffles, and as Raihan sat frozen, the kid still in his lap, his cock still inside of him, he found that he couldn’t move. There was nothing Raihan could say or do, but his heart was pounding so hard in his chest, it was becoming more painful, because what the fuck _did_ he do? This wasn’t supposed to happen.

The two of them sat frozen for a long time, Hop simply sucking in quieted, short breaths as he cried, and Raihan beginning to shake, before he finally, _finally_ gripped hold of the kid by his arms, and gently pulled him off of his cock. Hop only made the smallest gasping sound as he did, as Raihan lifted him out of his lap, and his cum oozed out of him—which Raihan couldn’t help but gasp at when he saw it, not realizing he had come so hard, but he couldn’t _help_ it. Gently, as gently as he could, he sat Hop down on the bed in front of him. The kid didn’t move much, probably in a bit of pain as he was no doubt afraid to move in fear of hurting himself, but Raihan probably didn’t need to be the one to tell him he was going to be sore tomorrow, even if he used lube, he knew he’d gotten carried away and was rough on him.

Fuck.

“Y-you…” Raihan bit his bottom lip a little too hard and he winced, the small sting snapping him back to reality. “Ah—y-you should lay on your side for awhile. If it hurts, it’ll help with the pain.”

The fact Hop wasn’t looking at him anymore, simply sniffling, his tears still coming in droves, but no sound came out his mouth put Raihan’s nerves on edge way more than it ever had when he was screaming at him. Why was this silence so suffocating? It’s because Raihan was still coming out of his own shock, he knew that, but he glanced down next to his thigh to see the blindfold that had come loose, though when exactly it happened, there was no way he could tell. Maybe the kid even pulled it off when he wasn’t paying attention, but the fact of the matter was—

Raihan was _fucked_. He was absolutely fucked. It wasn’t part of the plan for Hop to see him, and he knew the kid was going to mouth off if he ever let him go. The second Hop walked out of here, he was going to tell Leon and Gloria, maybe even the police, and Raihan’s crime would be plastered everywhere for all of Galar to see. He swallowed—palms shaky as he still held onto Hop’s arms, the kid also trembling, but his tears never once stopping that entire time. Hop just cried quietly, sniffling, and refused to look at him.

Although, Raihan wouldn’t be able to take the look on his face if he did. He knew that.

And he couldn’t help it. With the both of them suffocating in this silence, Raihan’s nerves were rattled, and he couldn’t help when his mouth opened, wanting to make noise more out of the need to end the silence rather than make conversation. “Y-you weren’t supposed to see me.”

Then Hop lifted his head, Raihan’s stomach churning at the sight of his bloodshot eyes. How was it possible for someone to look so tired? So hurt? So betrayed?

This was all Raihan’s fault, he knew that—but—

In some fucked up kind of way.

Some _horribly, awful_ , fucked up kind of way.

Raihan swallowed.

The idea of keeping Hop here in the castle, locked away where nobody could find him—that idea excited him. His rationale was shot by this point, because while he fully intended to fuck him and give him back, that wasn’t an option anymore. All he could do now was work with the cards he was dealt with, and that meant that Hop wasn’t leaving. He’d rat him out. Raihan even thought to himself how he hadn’t _wanted_ to give him back, and the longer he sat there, staring at Hop’s tear-streaked face, the longer he watched the kid tremble in front of him, still shaking and not putting his entire weight on his bottom out of fear from the pain it might cause, the more Raihan found that he loved the idea of keeping the kid all to himself.

So.

Maybe this was a good thing. Well—maybe calling it something _good_ was pushing it, but the fact of the matter was, Raihan fucked up, he hadn’t taken into account what he would even do if Hop saw him, but the only option was to keep Hop here in the castle until he could figure out something else. He shuddered at the idea of Leon coming after him should he find out. If that guy ever found out what Raihan had done to his brother—he swallowed. No use thinking about that now.

As Hop cried, trembling the longer they sat there, the kid finally spoke, his voice causing an unpleasant shiver to run down Raihan’s spine at the sound of how absolutely fucking exhausted he was. “Wh…why?” Down casting his gaze once more, Hop reached up to wipe some stray tears off his cheeks, his downpour softening a bit. “Why would you…” He trailed off, but Raihan already knew what he was getting at. _Why did he do it?_

“Because—” Again, he bit his lip, nicking it on purpose for the pain, because pain was the only thing snapping him out of his shock right now. And while his cheeks heated up at the idea that he had been eyeing Hop like he had been for quite awhile, Raihan couldn’t bring himself to say that. As horrible as it was, he simply spoke the truth, “Because you’re cute.”

Hop cringed, reeling backward when he said that and Raihan hated that seeing the kid recoil back from him made a bitter taste form in the back of his mouth. He was…the kid was supposed to take that as a compliment. Pretty horrible time to be complimenting him, Raihan knew that, but the heat in his face was doing nothing for his own slew of emotions right now. This was all going horribly wrong.

Because the fact of the matter was, he had acted on a whim, it was true, he had a chance, and he took that chance. He wanted to fuck. He wanted to get laid, that was all Raihan had been after the moment he decided to drug the kid’s coffee. He got off on the thrill of doing something he knew he wasn’t supposed to be doing. He got off on the thrill of kidnapping a kid, his best friend’s little brother, and whisking him away where he got to have his way with him. He got off on tying him up, rendering Hop helpless to him as he forced himself on him, as he got him off despite the kid’s protests—Raihan wanted him moaning for him and he got exactly what he wanted.

Raihan was a degenerate, through and through, and he only did all of this for a cheap fuck, because the kid had let his guard down and he was attractive. That was it.

It felt like someone was holding a rope around his throat and was tightening it little by little, the longer Raihan sat there trying to convince himself of his actions. Hop was supposed to be nothing but a passing fling, a prize of sorts for Raihan having lost to him in the stadium. It was supposed to be the kid giving back to him, and Raihan knew he would never willingly take his proposal if he simply walked up to him and asked him for sex. That’s why he did this.

His heart thumped, harder and harder in his chest, as the kid looked away from him a second time, his crying having quieted until he was only sniffling every once in awhile, but it—

Raihan gulped, trying to will away how tight his throat felt, will away the feelings of nausea rolling in his stomach.

Who was he trying to convince by calling this kid a passing fling? A spur of the moment decision to kidnap him where he could have his way with him?

Sweat beaded the back of his neck.

Hop wasn’t a fling. He wasn’t something to be disposed of. Raihan’s arms began to tremble again. Hop wasn’t…

“Look, kid.” Again, Raihan spoke to save himself the embarrassment of where exactly his thoughts were going. If the two of them stayed in the silence any longer, he would only dive deeper and deeper until he went somewhere he did _not_ want to wind up. So, he sighed, reaching over to undo the ropes around the kid’s wrists, discarding them to the floor afterward. Finally Raihan moved, flinging his long legs off the side of the bed, fixing his shorts as he did so, and settling on the edge with his back facing Hop. It might help the kid if he didn’t have to look at him. “Hate me all you want, if it’ll make you feel better, but I’m not going to apologize.” A feeling of nauseous guilt fell deep into his stomach. Why the fuck was he saying that to him? He _wasn’t_ sorry, but— “You may as well get comfortable for the night.”

Standing from the bed, Raihan glanced behind him to see Hop was still in the same position he’d been in, not moving, not saying anything, still as a statue, and Raihan rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“Th-there’s a bathroom through the door right over there.” He pointed across the room to the corner. “Use whatever you want. Stay in there all night if you want, hell—I don’t care.” He knew he was being cruel to him, speaking to him like that, but Raihan needed to get out of this room fast. The kid was probably tired as fuck, still groggy from the narcotics, and needed his privacy, Raihan knew that, but he had to get away from him for his own sanity’s sake too. There was so much he had to sort out, since none of this had been planned, Raihan had to figure out just what the fuck he was going to do with him.

With that all said and done, he strode across the room, only glancing back a final time to see the kid still hadn’t moved from his spot on the bed before Raihan reached the bedroom door, gripped the handle, and walked out. With the door shut behind him, his heart pounding harder and harder in his chest, Raihan locked it from the outside, before leaning his back against it and letting out a shaky breath. Reaching up, he placed his face into his hands and sucked in air.

What the fuck was he doing?

That simple question had been rattling around in his brain the entire night, and Raihan still didn’t know the answer to it. No matter how many times he tried to come up with answers to that, he still didn’t know. This was supposed to be a done deal, he was supposed to bring the kid back to Wyndon tomorrow without any problems, but—

He fisted the hem of his shirt in his hands when he dropped his arms, nervously wringing the fabric around and around. But…the more he thought about it, about that kid leaving, about forcing himself to take him back after he fucked him, the more Raihan hated even thinking about it. This was supposed to be a one-time thing. This was supposed to end tonight, be over by tomorrow, he was supposed to walk away after getting a cheap thrill out, a passing fling, and moving on with his life.

So…

Why was the fact the kid was going to be staying here from now on make him…happy? If that were even the right word. Because right now, Raihan felt relief of some kind, despite his anxiety of what the fuck he planned to do next, but there was also a strange sense of peace of knowing the kid was here with him, locked behind that door where nobody, absolutely nobody knew of his whereabouts.

But, Raihan couldn’t deny simply having Hop all to himself brought him a feeling of joy. Wasn’t this supposed to be a one-night stand? Why the fuck was he feeling this way?

Trying to shove those thoughts down as far as they would go, Raihan pushed himself from the door before making his way down the hallway. This entire area of the castle was closed off from the public and even employees. Only Raihan had access to this section of the castle, and while it wasn’t the biggest section, as it also served as his housing quarters, it was a safe bet that nobody would ever come up here. The staff mostly tended to the ground floors, as the first and second floors served as hotel rooms to a degree, but Raihan’s living quarters were further up the castle, shut behind a big ass door only he had access to. It hadn’t always been this way. When he first became the gym leader, he had his own flat out in the city, but in the recent years as the castle expanded to house the stadium and the energy plant below, more was built on, until Raihan himself was offered his own living quarters, completely cut off from the rest of the castle.

It was nice and private, and maybe a little overkill, but it wasn’t like Raihan was complaining. All the more reason he felt the kid would be safe up here. There would be nobody coming to investigate, no chance for the kid to escape, should he choose to try, as only Raihan had access to the locked doors in this wing.

Nobody, absolutely nobody even noticed him carrying the kid up the castle in the first place. Raihan was safe, he knew he was—even with Hop unconscious in his arms, he was careful then as he carted him away to the far reaches of the castle, Raihan knew that nobody had seen him up here. He knew all the secret entrances, the hidden pathways—it wasn’t like he just threw the kid over his shoulder and walked out in plain sight with him. Raihan had, in every sense of the word, stolen him from under everyone’s noses.

That had been the hardest part of this, as once Raihan locked them up in this wing, there would be no chance of escape on Hop’s end. If the kid even managed to get that far, Raihan was confident he’d either get lost trying to find his way out, but the large doors blocking the way would certainly thwart any escape. That was some relief for Raihan anyway.

Ugh.

Again, he rubbed as his temples as he walked down the hall, until he couldn’t stave off his headache anymore. The more he thought about this, the worse his head pounded, and he rounded the corner of the hall only to make an immediate right turn toward his kitchen. This area of the castle was fairly new, so it had a rather out of place modern look to it, as far as appliances and the like were concerned. The hotels on the lower floors were the older aspects, as that’s what people came to stay to the castle for—for the authenticity. Raihan might have lived up here, but his quarters didn’t exactly look the part. It wasn’t all that fancy, all that expansive, but the fact it was livable was all that mattered.

It was jarring to him the first time he moved in to see a modern kitchen next to his bedroom, even having a place for his washer, as he half-expected the inside of the castle to have chamberpots, old wood stoves, and things of that nature.

It was just an over-saturated apartment, and Raihan knew that. The room he had Hop locked in was a spare room he had never used, mainly for guests should any decide to come over, but since Raihan never really had guests—well.

It would serve its purpose now at least.

He sighed, reaching up above his sink to open a cabinet full of over the counter pills. After a quick search, he found a bottle of nonprescription painkillers and downed a few, swallowing them dry. The poor kid needed these way worse than he did, as he doubted his worsening headache was unlike anything compared to what that kid was going through. He hated leaving him alone, but also knew he needed his privacy right now. Raihan couldn’t even imagine what he was thinking. He probably felt betrayed, and he didn’t blame him for it by any means. He knew what he’d done was wrong, Raihan _knew_ that, and while he’d been in shock at first when Hop learned of his identity, that shock was wearing off now until Raihan couldn’t help but think maybe it was better for things to be like this.

It wasn’t like he minded all that much taking care of the kid right now. He had plenty of room to accommodate another person. He could go out and buy him groceries. Speaking of that—Raihan turned his gaze from the sink toward where he had thrown Hop’s bag when he first brought him up here. He’d been running on his desire and lust and wasn’t thinking before he ripped the kid’s duffle bag off and threw it to the floor while he passed by the kitchen, but it was still there, having been tossed carelessly to the floor where it had slid into the nearby corner. The zipper had come undone either by the kid’s own carelessness or Raihan’s, and he could just make out the fuzzy material of his jacket poking out.

He approached it, bending down to his haunches as he unzipped the bag the rest of the way before he turned it upside down and dumped the contents onto the floor. Hop’s phone fell out, bouncing off the linoleum and landing screen up near Raihan’s feet. The screen lit up when it did, and Raihan took only a second to glance at it to see Hop had a missed call and text from Gloria.

_‘R u in Wyndon yet? I’m at the hotel. Call me when ur here :)’_

That text was sent not thirty minutes ago and Raihan’s neck prickled with sweat again. He had half a mind to smash the kid’s phone since he wouldn’t be needing it anymore, but as he picked it up, gripping it in his palm, he began to tremble again, and he shook his head to himself. No, there was no need for that, but he couldn’t exactly give this back to him, so instead, he simply turned it off, pocketing it to figure out what to do with later. He could always hide it somewhere the kid would never find it, but if he smashed it, he’d have to discard of it, and there was the risk of someone finding it. Although, he could probably get away with burning it, but—Raihan groaned to himself, not sure what he should do.

All in all, he figured keeping things as much like the way they were would be his safest bet. That way there was no evidence, no trace of Hop left anywhere except right up here with him. And it wasn’t like anybody would be up here looking for him. Raihan was pretty confident this wouldn’t be anyone’s first place to look.

As morbid as it was, Raihan couldn’t deny he was a little curious what Leon would say once he found out his brother was missing, but as Raihan filtered through the kid’s bag, pulling out clothes and camping supplies, he was still asking himself the same question over and over. Was he really doing this? Was Raihan really fucking doing this? Planning to keep the kid here for an indiscernible amount of time? Was he really prepared to take on the task of taking care of someone like this?

His cheeks gushed heat. It was weird to think how he had convinced himself before he was fine with this being a one-time thing. Take the kid, fuck him, bring him back, get it over and done with, but he wondered if he would have really been okay with that at all. If his urges wouldn’t have just gotten worse over time, because—

Raihan gulped, throat feeling tight again as he only pulled out a handful of clothes for the kid from his bag.

Because…

This wasn’t the first time he had urges for this kid. As much as he tried to convince himself this was a spur of the moment decision for a one-night fling—Raihan knew that was bullshit. That was a fucking excuse and he knew that, but he’d be damned if he ever admitted that to himself.

Hop had been on his mind for a long. **_Long_** _time._

Long before the kid even really knew him that well. And hell—he still didn’t really _know_ him that well. To Hop, Raihan was just that one friend of his brother’s he saw every so often. He knew him, but at the same time, _he didn’t know him_. At least—Raihan gripped hold of a pair of pajamas he’d managed to find stuffed in his bag. At least, Hop probably didn’t know. He probably had no idea Raihan even had a crush on his older brother, but that was just an excuse too, wasn’t it?

Raihan’s cheeks flushed at the thought. _Fuck_. He really was messed up, thinking of all these things at once that he had been trying time and time again to avoid. Because if he ever admitted it to himself, then Raihan would have to come to terms with the fact he had urges for a kid _. A fourteen-year-old kid_. Even Raihan knew that was fucked up. Even Raihan knew he had tried to use Leon as a substitute, that he’d been lying to himself for so long about it that he’d even managed to convince himself that Leon was the one he’d always lusted after.

Not his little brother.

But, now that Raihan was here, digging through the kid’s bag and sifting through his things while on the kitchen floor, his face gushing with embarrassed heat—it was getting harder and harder to convince himself of the things he’d been trying so hard not to think about.

Mainly that he was glad Hop’s blindfold had come off and he’d seen him. It scared the fucking shit out of him at the same time, because he didn’t know the first thing about taking care of someone like this, but at the same time, he was excited. Excited to have Hop here with him, because truthfully, he hadn’t wanted to let him go at all. Raihan wanted him here, right here with him, right beside him.

His chest felt tight.

Standing from the floor, Raihan gripped a handful of Hop’s clothes in his arms before he grabbed the pills and a bottle of water off the countertop. The entire time he spent in here going through Hop’s belongings had taken about twenty minutes or so, so that should have been plenty of time for the kid to take a shower and get himself settled. Least—Raihan hoped it was.

As he made his way back down the hall, he unlocked Hop’s door (his chest fluttered at the fact that this was now _Hop’s_ room), pushing it open to reveal the kid was no longer on the bed, but he could hear the shower running from the bathroom. He didn’t blame him at all for wanting a long shower, but he couldn’t help the guilt that seeped back down like a rock dropping in his stomach when he saw the mess on the bed. It was hard to face Hop after what he’d done, as he placed his clothes on the nearby dresser for him, along with the bottle of water and pills, but he couldn’t let the poor kid sleep in that mess. With a sigh, Raihan gathered up the blankets they had gotten messy and ripped them off the bed, leaving only the bare sheets which he felt could stay as they hadn’t gone under the covers or anything. They were probably still clean, or at least, not covered in cum.

And while Raihan hadn’t wanted to be that rough with him, he couldn’t deny the image of Hop moaning while he fucked him was one he wanted to keep on repeat in his mind forever. The kid made some of the most beautiful sounds while he was fucked, like he couldn’t get enough of him, and Raihan was blushing again as he tossed the dirty blankets into the corner, opening the closet to fish out a pair of new ones for him. Why did the kid have this much of an effect on him? Why did the thought of him living with Raihan like this make him so…happy?

_Just a one-time thing, huh?_

His heart thumped in his chest when he heard the shower turn off, right as he began to fit the blankets back on, and when the bathroom door opened, a wall of steam pouring out as Hop emerged, Raihan glanced back to see the kid freeze on sight the moment he caught his eye. He had a bath towel wrapped around his waist, and Raihan couldn’t help when his gaze trailed down to his bare chest. _O-oh…_ had he already forgotten how soft his skin was? Hop quickly gripped hold of the handle, pulling the bathroom door back to him as he sidestepped behind it, like he was trying to hide his half-naked body from Raihan.

A bit pointless considering they had just fucked, but Raihan couldn’t blame him for it. He was surprised he didn’t shut the door on him entirely, but Hop stood behind it, waiting like a wounded Pokémon for Raihan to finish him off.

He fumbled with his words when he finally remembered to open his damn mouth and speak to him, but the scent of shampoo wafting in the air was driving Raihan way crazier than he would have liked to admit. “Uh—I got new blankets for you. Better than sleeping in our mess, yeah?” Heat flushed his face and he didn’t know why, but he ignored it by pointing off to the dresser at Hop’s pajamas. “I brought some clothes for you. And pain medicine—if you need it.”

He wished Hop would look at him at least, but Raihan just sighed. He couldn’t blame him, he knew that. Looking back over at the blankets he’d splayed over the bed, Raihan wondered if he should smooth them out for him at least, but just as he gripped hold of them to do just that, Hop spoke, his voice small and meek as he continued hiding behind the door.

“I-I don’t wanna stay here tonight. … _please_.”

Sweat beaded Raihan’s forehead, his hands freezing along with the rest of him as he gripped hold of the blanket.

Hop continued. “I have to get to Wyndon—m-me and Gloria were gonna—” Raihan could hear his voice quivering, and he turned slowly to face Hop who still had a firm grip on the door handle, his head held low when he refused to look at him, and Raihan’s stomach twisted at the sound of his words alone. “We were gonna stay at the hotel before the semi finals—”

“That ain’t happening.”

Hop’s head shot up when Raihan spoken and even he thought he was way too curt with that, but _fuck_ , he couldn’t _help_ it. Turning on his heels, he faced Hop who shrank behind the door even more until all Raihan could see from the bathroom was basically the side of his head and shoulders.

Before Hop could open his mouth and argue with him, Raihan crossed the room, causing Hop to gasp before he disappeared behind the door, slamming it shut, locking it, and Raihan let out a long, drawn out sigh as he approached, leaning on his side against the door as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

A bit put off he’d slammed the door in his face but trying not to let his annoyances show in his tone, Raihan spoke, “Look, I’m sorry, kid, but you ain’t going _anywhere_ anymore.”

He could just make out Hop’s muffled words from the other side. “Y-you said—”

Raihan cut him off. “I _know_ what I said, but that was before everything went to shit. I planned to take you back, I really did.” But the thought tore at his chest, tightening that awful feeling, and Raihan had no fucking idea why he felt this way. He hadn’t _wanted_ to give Hop back. He told himself he would, he would get this out of his system and move on, but the truth was—

Raihan bit his bottom lip, stomach churning.

The truth was, he just didn’t _fucking want to._ He wanted to keep Hop here with him.

“Look, it won’t be so bad. You get your own room, your own bathroom, plenty of space. I might not be as rich as your brother, but I got money, I can buy all your necessities and whatnot.”

Hop’s voice quaked again, and Raihan felt that awful wave of guilt again when he could hear the fucking despair in his tone. Why did that kill him so much to hear Hop sound so miserable? “Y-you can’t just keep me here!”

“I can and I’m gonna.”

“Someone will come looking for me. They’re going to realize I’m missing.”

Letting out a rather annoyed sigh, Raihan turned so his back was leaned against the door instead, leaning his head against it as he stared up at the ceiling and frowned. “Good for them, but they ain’t gonna find you. I’ve got you too well-hidden.”

“Do you realize how fucking crazy this is?”

He had to laugh at that. Yeah. Yeah, he did. But he wouldn’t admit that, especially not to Hop of all people. “I mean, I could always lock you up in one of those small dungeons with no light or windows, so I figured you’d be a little grateful I’m giving you your own room.” Even Raihan knew how horrible it was to say something like that to him, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t want to get angry at him, or say awful things, but he was still coming to terms with this himself and Raihan didn’t really know _what_ he planned to do.

Did he honestly think he could keep Hop here forever? Just because he saw his face? Was facing punishment for what he’d done really worth this much heartache?

Raihan swallowed, throat feeling tight yet again. It wasn’t so much about letting him run free where he could tattle on him, but just—the more Raihan thought on it, the more he liked the idea of Hop living here with him.

But what he said must have scared him, because Hop’s voice was slowly losing that hysteria ring to it, and even from behind the door, Raihan could hear his tone was much softer, though no less terrified. He hated that he was scared, he really did, but there was nothing he could do to comfort him. Literally nothing. So, what was the point?

“I-I won’t tell anybody, I promise.”

Raihan shrugged, not really sure why when Hop couldn’t see him, but maybe he could sense it in his words. “Course you won’t, babe.”

“I promise!” Ah, there it was again. Hop’s voice rose in pitch, sending those unpleasant shivers down Raihan’s spine once more. It was difficult to distinguish between his voice when he was scared versus when he was turned on, and Raihan should have felt guilty he got to hear both, but he was doing all he could to calm himself down right now. “L-look, I won’t say anything to anybody, I swear! B-but—but you can’t keep me here!”

“Aw come on, kid, you ain’t even trying.” Raihan threw his head back against the door, still resting his weight against it as they had this conversation, but he picked at his fingernails when he spoke. “Is living with me really that big a deal? I already told you I’d take care of your expenses and whatnot. It’s not like I’m a stranger, right? You know who I am.”

“I _don’t_ know you.”

That…stung way more than it should have and Raihan had no idea why. It made him frown, and he quit picking at his nails, instead pushing off the door when he did so and letting out an annoyed huff of air. There was no point in continuing this conversation when it was going absolutely nowhere. “Whatever. Bitch and moan all you want, I don’t care. Stay in there all night and sleep in the fucking tub if it makes you feel better. It’s your room, do whatever you want.”

It was just getting to him, Raihan knew that. He wasn’t angry at the kid by any means, but—he didn’t know why he was acting like this. Hop had every right to say these things, to be scared, to be angry, he had every right to punch Raihan in the face if he wanted, but Raihan couldn’t help when his brow pinched, when he faced the bathroom door, hands dug back in his pockets, and he glared at the door like it was the source of all his problems right now.

None of what he had done was out of anger. Raihan didn’t hate this kid by any means. He didn’t kidnap him because he hated him. He didn’t fuck him because he was angry or had any ill feelings toward him whatsoever. In fact, it made him a bit happy to have him here right now, to know he was staying indefinitely. It really did.

But his chest was tight. His stomach wouldn’t stop churning, and Raihan sucked in a huge breath before slowly letting it out to calm himself down.

“Anyway. You got clean blankets, fresh clothes. Like I said, there’s pain meds on the dresser if your ass is sore. Stay up all night if you want, I don’t care what you do, kid.”

He should have said something nice to him—something to comfort him and prove to Hop that staying with him wasn’t inherently a bad thing, but anything Raihan could have come up with would be useless, he knew that. So instead of forcing himself to say something he knew would make _absolutely no difference_ , he turned and left the room, slamming the door behind him and locking it.

Maybe he was just irritated at the fact he knew he wouldn’t be able to win Hop over right this very instant and he was impatient, or maybe it was because this entire night hadn’t gone the way he planned, but either way, Raihan strode down the hall, back to the kitchen to grab Hop’s duffle bag from the floor and rummaged around through it in case he missed anything from his earlier searching. He already had his phone which was still in his pocket, he’d taken out all his clothes all his shit that he had, there was nothing Raihan felt he needed to lock away other than Hop himself, but—

He gathered the bag, standing up to his full height and sighed for the umpteenth time that night. Hearing Hop sound so miserable—it was to be expected. Raihan hurt him in the worst way possible, he knew that. He _knew_ he gave in fully to his lust, he deserved absolutely none of Hop’s kindness for what he’d done to him. No forgiveness, nothing.

But.

His heart pounded, chest feeling tight as he gripped hold of the bag straps.

It broke his heart to think of why exactly he’d done this. He could lie to himself all fucking day long and say he was just horny, but it was more than that. Hop was cute— _adorable_ at that, but that wasn’t why Raihan did this. He knew that. If there was one person Raihan couldn’t lie to, no matter how much he tried, then it was himself.

He wanted—he gulped. He wanted Hop to like him. That was the truth. Because he—

Heat gushed to his face until Raihan could feel it, knowing had anyone been there to see, they would notice the deep shade of red his face turned as he blushed.

Because Raihan _liked_ him. That kid made him feel something he had never felt before, not even with Leon, and he had to wonder if his feelings toward Leon had ever even been genuine in the first place. His instinct told him no, that he was only looking for an excuse to gloss over the fact he felt something for his little brother. What that something was, Raihan tried not to think about.

He gripped hold of the bag so tight that his nails dug into his palm.

The fact of the matter was, he liked Hop. Hop was adorable, kind, way too trusting, and Raihan liked him.

As he crossed the kitchen, clutching Hop’s duffle bag in his arms, making his way down the hall toward his own room, Raihan stole a glance at Hop’s bedroom door as he passed by, wondering if he would come out the bathroom and sleep on the bed.

Raihan’s cheeks gushed heat again at the thought of wishing he had pushed for the both of them to sleep together.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone so much as always for your support. It means a lot to me ;-;
> 
> Also if my notes are duplicating or appearing at the end of the chapter Where they shouldn’t be I’M SORRY i think ao3 is having a stroke bc i can’t erase them or anything, so idk what’s up with it glitching like that but anyway yeah. I’M NOT PUTTING THOSE NOTES THERE LOL

The buzzing of his phone drew Raihan from sleep. Letting out an annoyed groan at being woken up so motherfucking early in the morning for this stupid tournament only put him in a sour mood already. It had been hard to settle down last night, as once he’d left Hop alone to do who knew the fuck what in his room, Raihan tried to clear his head by stepping outside and smoking a cigarette, taking a long shower once he got back inside, and finally spent the better part of two hours lying awake in bed to stare up at the ceiling.

Yeah. It was one of _those_ nights.

Trying to will away his annoyances with no success, he flipped his phone off to silence his alarm before sitting up in bed, his blanket rolling off his bare chest as he reached up to rub the sleep from his eyes. Five in the morning was hardly the best time to wake up, especially on a Friday of all things, but he had to be in Wyndon for the tournament as everyone plus their grandma and their grandma’s Purrloin would be there to see this. Gloria and Hop were on track for the semi-finals, and— Raihan threw his legs off the side of the bed. And Hop wouldn’t be attending, unfortunately. That was sure to cause some alarm bells to ring, and Raihan cursed himself for not waiting at least until the tournament was over before he decided to steal him away, but really—when was he going to find another opportunity for this kid to waltz into Hammerlocke like he had and be by himself?

Anytime Raihan had seen him before, he was always either surrounded by people, or traveling around with Gloria, and hell, he’d caught him goofing off with Leon from time to time. As far as he knew, Hop hadn’t exactly been aware that Raihan—to put it bluntly— _followed_ him sometimes. He didn’t want to call it _stalking_ , but there were definitely some moments when Raihan caught himself hanging around in the backdrop, just far enough away the kid wouldn’t notice him, and he’d watch him for a while.

Simply watching him, enjoying the smile on his face as he ran around, doing this and that, and it was something Raihan had begun doing subconsciously at some point to where he couldn’t even remember when he started following after him, hanging around a little too long sometimes just to see what he was up to. There were several times he’d caught himself trying to approach him and make a conversation, but whatever he could talk to him about always fell flat, as Raihan had no idea what the hell he’d even say. Small talk wasn’t his strong suit, and while he wasn’t socially awkward or anything like that, Raihan had always been one to tell someone exactly what he wanted from them, whether it had to do with business, or proposing someone for sex, Raihan wasn’t flighty. Not in the least.

And yet.

When it came to Hop, he always found himself hesitating, hesitating to make the first move, to approach him, to ask him out for coffee or even strike up a random conversation they could have about Pokémon battling. And he didn’t know _why_. Why was it so hard to talk to him? He was a _kid_ for fuck’s sake, he probably still watched dumb cartoons on television for all Raihan knew.

Maybe that was why, because Hop was so young, that Raihan always shied away from talking to him. Because if he ever let his true feelings be known, that he thought Hop was cute and wanted to sit and get to know him better, he knew without a doubt he’d probably not only scare away the kid, but cause people to talk about why on earth the dragon gym leader was trying to hook up with teenagers.

Ugh. Either way he looked at it, it was messy. And Raihan hated dealing with something when he knew down the line, he would have way too much cleaning up to do. If what he was doing right now could be considered that, then he certainly had his work fucking cut out for him. It wasn’t his plan to keep Hop here forever and Raihan was still a little lost on what he should do, that he had mulled over it for half the night on whether he was really committed to accommodating Hop’s stay, or if he should take him back.

But, the more the night waned, the longer Hammerlocke was blanketed in the dark sky as Raihan had laid awake in bed, wracking his brain for what to do now, he only knew one thing for certain.

He didn’t want to give Hop back. Not anymore. Having the kid here with him gave him a feeling of excitement he hadn’t felt in _years_ , and he wanted more of it. While he knew he hadn’t exactly been the nicest to him, he wanted to change that. It was only his own emotions getting the better of him, plus the stress, but that was no reason to take it out on the poor kid like that, he knew. Although, he could spare himself some of the guilt by saying it was Hop’s fault he had fallen for him, but the kid didn’t know how Raihan felt, and he sure as fuck wasn’t about to drop that ball on him right now.

He’d wait until he got comfortable around the place, got used to his new living situation, maybe Raihan could butter him up a bit before he attempted going any further with this. However—he couldn’t help but smile as he stretched once he stood from bed, his sleepless night already catching up to him—however, none of that meant he couldn’t have some fun while he was at it. Hop might not come around immediately by any means, but Raihan would at least try to consider his feelings, as it couldn’t have been easy for him being plucked out of his life like that only to wind up in the castle with Raihan. He’d need some time to adjust, just like Raihan did.

One-time thing, right?

Raihan rolled his eyes to himself, trudging away from the bed toward his bathroom where he washed his face and did his business. Yeah right. One-time thing his fucking _asshole_.

The sun hadn’t even risen yet and Raihan strode his way down the hall in relative darkness until he reached the kitchen. Flipping on a single light above the table, he knew he should probably fix the kid breakfast, but he wasn’t sure if he should let him sleep or wake him up. The bigger question was what the fuck did he even plan to do with him? This stupid tournament was going to last the entire day, so he would probably spend the night in a hotel, or if he got really lucky, he could catch the train and be back home by midnight, which sounded way better than leaving Hop here by himself for all that time. At least he’d have some peace of mind not leaving him overnight. He hated the idea of locking him up in his bedroom all day, because even if the kid had access to a bathroom, that was still a full day in a single room with nothing to do. He didn’t even have a television in there for him (yet), and he couldn’t give him his phone for obvious reasons, but—

Raihan sighed. If he let him roam around the kid might get into trouble, even though nobody ever came up here, and Raihan was the only one who had access to this wing, he feared the kid finding a way out, so he shot that down immediately. Until he could properly do a scope of the area and make damn sure there was _no way_ out for him, he was going to have to keep him in his room.

And hell—it was only for one day. It wouldn’t kill the kid to stay in his room for one damn day, would it? Not if Raihan brought him a ton of snacks and stuff he could eat and drink during that time. He’d be fine.

With that thought in mind, he exited the kitchen, rounding the corner of the hall toward Hop’s bedroom and didn’t hesitate before he unlocked the door and swung it open. He half-expected the kid to have holed himself up in the bathroom all night, maybe taking a blanket and sleeping in the tub, but the bed must have proven to be too comfortable, as the moment Raihan opened the door, that’s exactly where he found him, fast asleep.

The bedroom wasn’t all that luxurious, not like one would have expected from a castle, but since this portion of the wing was built to be lived in, not for authenticity’s sake (at least not like the lower ground hotels), the bedroom looked like any other unassuming bedroom. The fact nobody stayed here other than Raihan was a bit obvious as the room hadn’t been fully furnished yet, only housing the bed and a dresser for the most part, but Raihan was already thinking of things he could give him. For starters, a television would be nice, the kid could at least have some movies to watch or something, and maybe a bookshelf where he could start giving him things to read. There would be no computer or phone though—Raihan couldn’t have him contacting anyone.

He flipped on his lamp, causing the kid to mumble something from his sleep before he pulled the covers over his face. Ah—Raihan had to smile at it. It was honestly such a cute thing for him to do, almost childish in a way, but he definitely wasn’t complaining. Still, he crossed the room, leaning over where he gently shook Hop’s shoulder to try and rouse him from sleep.

“Wakey wakey, kiddo.” Hop merely mumbled again, hiding himself further under the covers. So not only did he mumble in his sleep, but he was a _heavy_ sleeper at that. His smile widening, Raihan tucked that little tidbit into the back of his mind for now as he continued shaking him, gaining another annoyed moan from Hop who refused to wake up. Raihan sighed, trying not to get irritated, but this was cutting into his morning commute time. If it weren’t for this damn tournament, he wouldn’t even bother getting out of bed himself. “Come on, kid, look alive. I ain’t got all morning.”

With a particularly harsher shove to his arm, causing Hop to roll over on his back, Raihan watched as he finally pulled the blanket down from around his face, revealing his bloodshot eyes which honestly threw Raihan off. Why the hell were his eyes so red? Surely, he hadn’t been crying all night.

…Right?

That pang of guilt shot in his stomach, but Raihan ignored it, having to tear his gaze away from him in the meantime. A thought rang out in his mind of wondering what everyone would say if he just called in sick for the tournament where he could stay home with Hop all day. That idea was way more appealing than it should have been, but he quickly threw thoughts like that down the drain. It’d be way too suspicious if Raihan called out like that only for them to discover Hop was missing. He had to remember to go about life as normally as possible, no matter how menial it was.

Standing from the bed, Raihan straightened as Hop sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he appeared way groggier than Raihan expected him to be. The narcotics shouldn’t have affected him that bad, but it was obvious the way he carried that vacant expression that Hop was still recovering from the side effects. “Sorry, don’t have a lot of time, kid. Just letting you know I’ll be gone all day, but I’ll be back tonight, so don’t worry.” Hop didn’t respond, still waking up, but Raihan nibbled at his bottom lip as he watched the kid try his hardest to snap out of it. If only that guilt would go the fuck away already. “But—I’ll bring you food and stuff. I don’t have a spare television to bring in for you, so you’re probably gonna be bored as hell all day. Sorry about that.” He was so matter of fact by what he was saying that even Raihan knew this was all bullshit. If it weren’t for the fact he wasn’t entirely sure that this wing was sealed off where Hop couldn’t escape, he would have absolutely given the kid free reign, but he just didn’t have the time to make sure of things like that right now.

It sucked, but it couldn’t be helped.

Not gaining any response from Hop still, Raihan fiddled with his shirt, feeling awkward the longer he stood there, watching Hop yawn and appear like he wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep. “Uh—anyway, yeah. I’ll bring food before I leave, so at least you won’t go hungry all day.”

He turned to exit the room, but Hop’s voice made him freeze in his tracks.

“Raihan…?” He sounded lethargic from sleep, his voice drowning in it, but the way he said his name, it made Raihan’s heart flutter, and he whipped around to face him, seeing that the kid was looking up at him through lidded eyes. “Um…can I have my bag?”

“The duffle bag?” He had that thing tucked in his room, after getting all of Hop’s clothes out for him the night before, he had packed it back up with his tent supplies, what appeared to be shower supplies, and anything else that didn’t look important before he threw it in his closet for now. He probably could have just given him the bag itself, but Raihan didn’t want to risk something being hidden away in there the kid could use to communicate with. Though his phone was the biggest risk to that, Raihan made sure it was locked away in his room where the kid wouldn’t find.

Hop nodded, again rubbing his eyes. “Y-yeah…I need my glasses.”

Raihan blinked. _No fucking way._ Hop wore glasses? When did _that_ happen? All those times Raihan had seen him, either with friends or from a distance, he never _once_ remembered seeing Hop wear glasses, so what the fuck?

“Glasses?” His cheeks heated up. Why the hell was that _so cute?_ It shouldn’t have made heat gush from his face to imagine Hop in glasses, but that image was so adorable that Raihan couldn’t help it.

Hop looked incredibly uncomfortable, but Raihan still wasn’t over how he never knew the kid wore fucking glasses and the kid nodded then. “Yeah…I slept in my contacts. They’re hurting.” At least that explained his bloodshot eyes and Raihan couldn’t deny it made the guilt disappear when it probably meant he hadn’t cried all night. Probably.

Still trying his damndest to not go insane over the idea that Hop had worn glasses all this time and he never knew, Raihan gave him a slow nod. “Sure. Be right back.” And he exited the room, making a beeline for his own bedroom.

There in his closet sat Hop’s duffle bag and Raihan wasted no more time before he tipped it upside down, emptying the contents. A small black bag rolled to the side, which he picked up before unzipping. A lot of Hop’s bathing supplies were there, like shampoo, toothpaste, all things like that, but now that he was actually paying attention, Raihan saw a contact lenses case, along with an elongated plastic case. Popping it open revealed a pair of black framed glasses and his cheeks heated up all over again. They were those frames he’d seen a lot of younger people wearing, never thinking much of them other than they definitely weren’t for everyone, but the image of Hop with these on made his heart flutter.

Why on earth was the kid affecting him like this? Finding out he wore glasses shouldn’t have gotten to him this much, but _fuck_. Raihan couldn’t help but be a little flustered as he stuffed Hop’s bag back in his closet, grabbing the contact case and his glasses before shuffling his way back down the hall. Hop was still leaned up in bed, looking dazed, but perked up once Raihan entered. He held up Hop’s things for him to see and the kid finally threw his legs over the side of the bed before approaching Raihan. He was honestly surprised to see him be so forward today, considering he had locked himself in the bathroom the night before and an attempt to get away from him, but Raihan was definitely not complaining at all.

“…thanks.” His words were low and forced, Raihan could tell, but he handed him his things before Hop crossed the room toward the bathroom.

“I’ll bring you some food.”

The bathroom door shut, Hop not giving Raihan a reply, but he took that as his cue to leave before he found himself in the kitchen, rummaging around in the cabinets for stuff Hop could snack on all day. He ended up hauling an armful of granola bars, bags of candy, soda, biscuits, and anything else he could find lying around that would keep his hunger at bay. When he got home later that night, he’d have to give the kid a proper meal, even if it was takeout. Hop liked pizza, right? Raihan knew he was a curry lover at heart, but Hammerlocke only had cheap takeout as far as curry went. The nicer places were either in Wyndon or Circhester and while Raihan wanted nothing more than to take the kid out to eat with him, that just wasn’t an option. It was either put up with Raihan’s lackluster cooking, or get takeout, and he’d pick takeout for now.

Upon entering his room, Raihan found Hop seated on the bed, and froze when the kid lifted his head, a streak of light from the lamp reflecting off his glasses and Raihan’s face heated up all over again.

Oh fuck. Oh _shit_ —he was even cuter than he imagined now that he was actually seeing him with his glasses on. Those thick black frames really suited him, and before Raihan could stop himself, he opened his stupid mouth, “You look cute with glasses.”

His cheeks gushed with heat at the fact he had just said that, but Hop merely sank into himself, as though he were trying his hardest to appear as small as possible, but was failing miserably. Trying to compose himself, Raihan let it roll off his shoulder before approaching the bed, dumping his haul onto Hop’s dresser.

“Uh—a-anyway, I brought snacks. Like I said, I’m going to be gone all day, so it’ll probably be dark out by the time I get back. I wasn’t planning to stay overnight.” He splayed the snacks out, placing a few bottles of soda upright next to them before turning back to Hop. The kid had receded into himself, his shoulders bunched, and he was clutching at his blanket as though trying to cover his legs for some reason, which Raihan couldn’t exactly blame him for.

But, try as he might, he couldn’t help himself. It was obvious Hop was embarrassed around him, and as blunt as it was, Raihan tried his best to ease his worries.

“Kid, I’ve already seen you naked, you ain’t gotta act all shy around me.”

At that, Hop’s head shot up, giving Raihan a nice view of his face which he couldn’t help but smile at. Glasses really did suit the kid, after all. He had a compulsion to take his contacts away from him altogether, just to have the excuse to see him like this more often.

He shrugged as Hop gave him an incredulous stare before he continued. “What? It’s true. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

And his face turned red. Horribly red. Even from where he stood, Raihan could see the shade on his face extend all the way to his ears and holy _shit_ , did that look adorable. Hop, despite his outgoing personality, really could be shy about things like this, but it was so endearing. Raihan had only ever known him to be the joyful kid who lit up the room when he entered, not taking things too seriously as he went through life, but to see this side of him, it felt like Raihan had access to some secret he wasn’t supposed to be looking at and he was absolutely enjoying every second of it.

But Hop said nothing, only turned his gaze back down to the blanket, staring off into space with his face still very much heated. It was apparent he was in no mood to converse with Raihan, probably still groggy from the drugs, but he had no idea they would affect him like this. He had no doubt the kid would probably go back to sleep once he left, but he let out a sigh, glancing to the other side of the dresser to see the bottle of water he’d left the night before had been drained and the pain pills nowhere in sight, so Hop either disposed of them, or swallowed them.

That fucking pang of guilt dipped into his stomach again, but Raihan willed it away. “You need more pain medicine?”

Hop shook his head, surprising Raihan by an actual reply this time, despite it not being spoken, it was better than nothing.

And Raihan grimaced, having to avert his gaze out of his own guilt when he asked his next question. “Does it…does it still hurt?”

It didn’t help his guilt a single fucking bit when Hop nodded, and Raihan leaned away from the dresser, approaching the bedside until he was hovering over Hop who refused to meet his gaze.

“Well then you’ll probably need more pain meds, right? You ain’t gotta lie to me, kid, I’m not going to get mad at you or nothing if you tell me you’re in pain. Fuck—I _want_ you to tell me the truth, okay?”

Hop only clutched his blanket between his fingers, squeezing until the color drained from his knuckles and Raihan threw his head back, letting out another sigh. This was all Raihan’s fault, he knew it, but in the end, he knew it was because he had been too rough with him. In his eagerness, he had often forgotten that Hop was a virgin (or had been), and he had meant to go slower with him, he really did, but the moment he let loose and forgot himself, there was no hope for either of them by that point and Raihan let out a groan, more at himself than anything.

He would just have to treat him much gentler next time.

“I’ll be back.”

No sooner had he turned heel to exit the door than Hop spoke, his voice almost a whisper, but in the quieted room, Raihan could hear it loud and clear.

“R-Raihan…?”

He paused, turning to face the kid who was still clutching onto his blanket like it was his lifeline or something. He didn’t look up, only squeezed the blanket in his hands once more and Raihan could see him struggling to come up with the words. As much as he couldn’t really afford to waste anymore time (he had already been at this for fifteen minutes and the train was leaving soon), he waited patiently for Hop to say what he had to say.

And finally, his voice shaky, shaky to the point Raihan could hear every word seep out with a definite quake, Hop spoke, “A-are you re—are y-you really planning to keep me here?” And he lifted his head, the light from his lamp glaring off his glasses, but his gaze was kept firmly glued to some random part of the room where he wouldn’t have to look at Raihan.

Letting out a sigh, Raihan leaned back into the dresser, his backside pressing against the surface as he slouched, but he dug his hands into his pockets before giving Hop a hard stare, wishing he’d make eye contact with him at least. “Yeah, I am.”

“But…” Hop swallowed, Raihan able to hear the gurgling it made as he struggled to speak. “I-I’m supposed t-to be in Wyndon for the semi-finals. Gloria—Lee and Mum are all gonna be there. What are they g-gonna say when I don’t show up?” The color drained of his face and Raihan swore he thought the kid might vomit, but he shifted his weight from one leg to the other, trying not to let this get to him, but damn was it hard when Hop looked so adorable and small right then.

If only Raihan could just stay here for the day. Stay and love on him, hold him, kiss him, convince him that everything was going to be alright and he wasn’t out to hurt him. But he couldn’t.

“Kid, look, I know this situation isn’t easy on you, and believe me, I wasn’t planning on keeping you here by any means.” It was definitely a fantasy of his, though. A fantasy that had become reality all in a span of one insignificant slip up. Raihan was to blame for that. “But, if it’ll make you feel better, just know I’m not planning to hurt you or anything. I didn’t do this for ransom and I’m not gonna kill you.”

“Then why?” That look of betrayal flashed all over Hop’s face, even without looking at him, Raihan could see the way his brows pinched, the way he receded even further into himself, and how he was no doubt holding back tears, but he never once looked up at him. Even if he did, Raihan doubted he could have handled seeing the look in his eyes. It would be best not to have to go through his day with that image burned in his mind.

Again, Raihan shifted on his feet, a little nervous as he stood there leaned against the dresser, and twiddled his fingers in his pockets. “I don’t know, kid. Maybe it’s because you’re cute and I couldn’t help myself.” He let out a laugh through his nose, but it held no ounce of merit in it. It was a sound simply for the sake of creating a sound. “And really, you shouldn’t be so trusting of people like that.”

Hop tensed, but said nothing, he only cringed slightly enough Raihan noticed it from the corner of his eye.

“Come on, kid, don’t be so upset about it. It ain’t all bad.” Lifting his hands from his pockets, he started counting off his fingers. “You got your own room, your own bathroom, a nice view from the window, plenty of space to stretch your legs.”

“Is this some kind of sick joke?” The biting tone to Hop’s voice actually made Raihan blanch back for a moment before he caught himself, and he frowned. “You can’t seriously expect me to believe you’re really planning to keep me here.”

Raihan shrugged. “Believe me or not, I don’t care, but this ain’t a joke, kiddo. You ain’t going nowhere, so you might as well get used to it.”

“But…” Hop tensed again, only momentarily glancing up at Raihan before lowering his focus to a point on the far wall. “If you’re so afraid of me telling someone about this, why go through all the trouble? Why keep me here?”

“Because I like—” _Whooooaaaa_ —ly shit. Raihan choked on his words before he could even finish that sentence, erupting into a few coughs to catch himself. Holy shit, he almost told Hop that he liked him—and wouldn’t that just be the best way to start off his morning? Confess his feelings to the kid he just kidnapped and was holding against his will after fucking him the night before. Ugh, no wonder Hop thought he was full of shit. He was right, it _would_ just be easier for Raihan to dispose of him and move on, but—

He shook his head. No. Hop was…

Hop was way too precious for him to do that. To even think of disposing of him made him sick to his stomach and he quickly leaned off the dresser, having already fumbled his words, he wasn’t about to try and recover from that, but he really needed to leave now or risk missing his train and that would be another headache and a half for him.

“Anyway, I gotta go. Get this stupid tournament over with. I’ll bring you the pain meds before I go.”

And with Hop sitting there spacing out like he was, huddled into himself, he looked so small then, so small that Raihan wanted to lift him up in his arms and hold him tight if he could, but before he could stop himself, he grinned as he approached the bedside once more. It might have just been to save himself the embarrassment for what he’d said earlier, but he couldn’t help to tease him a little. Just a little.

He leaned down, getting face level with Hop and forcing the kid to look over at him when he did, and he looked so utterly adorable in those glasses, there was no way Raihan couldn’t fall for him like this. Hop flinched back, brows pinched as he darted his gaze anywhere but at Raihan’s face. “Wh-what…?” His cheeks gushed red and there was no way Raihan wasn’t going to leave without flustering him a little more.

“How about giving me a goodbye kiss?”

Hop said nothing, but clenched his jaw when he finally looked up at Raihan through an expression he could only describe as stilted.

With no response from Hop, Raihan leaned on his palms until he’d shoved his face right in front of the kid’s, his grin widening. “Come on, just one? For good luck? You can do it on my cheek, I don’t mind.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

His grin dropped, but not completely into a frown. It wasn’t like he expected Hop to leap into his arms or anything, but it never failed to throw him off when the kid swore like that. These were sides of him Raihan wasn’t used to, and while that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, he sighed in resignation more at the fact he just wished Hop would quit being so uptight about this.

But, that wasn’t about to stop him from pushing until he saw just where Hop’s limits lay. “Aw, come on, babe, don’t be that way. It’s just a kiss, no big deal.”

“Stop _calling_ me that, I hate it.” Now Hop was glaring up at him, though if he were trying to be intimidating, Raihan had some bad news for him. The kid’s frown only made him want to burst out laughing, because he just looked _cute_. Even with that expression on his face as he stared him down, Raihan swore it just made him look prettier.

“What, you hate it when I call you babe?” He grinned. “Would you prefer _baby? Sweetie?_ Come on, kid, tell me what you’re into, you can’t surprise me, I’ve seen and heard it all.”

“I don’t want you calling me _anything_ like that.”

Raihan rolled his eyes. “That’s no fun, but whatever.” And he leaned back into his face, Hop now being pressed against the headboard until there wouldn’t be anywhere he could go before long. “Still waiting on that goodbye kiss.”

Hop’s frown only intensified. “You’ll be waiting forever then, because I’m not kissing you.”

“Aw, you don’t have to be shy, babe. I won’t bite. Not unless you want me to.”

“Stop calling me th—” In that moment that Hop opened his mouth to complain, Raihan closed the distance between them, climbing onto the bed the rest of the way as he hovered over Hop, and kissed him right on the mouth. Immediately, Hop tried to pull away, but was already backed into the headboard, and Raihan heard the sound of him banging his head against it, letting out a grunt against his mouth as he failed to separate them. He wanted to laugh, but instead reached up with both hands, gripping Hop by his cheeks to keep him steady as he only deepened the kiss, wishing the kid would open his mouth, so he could shove his tongue inside, but didn’t want to risk him biting the shit out of him either. Raihan didn’t want to get too greedy after all, but this would suffice.

Despite Hop’s struggles, he couldn’t push Raihan off of him, and could only lie there backed against the bed like he was while Raihan went at him, enjoying how soft his lips were, how he dragged his mouth over Hop’s in an attempt to taste every aspect of him, and he indulged in every sense of the word. Hop’s little moans of protest only vibrated against his mouth, making Raihan press his tongue against the opening of his lips, simply enjoying the taste of him.

As much as he wanted to stay there longer to kiss him, even being tempted to climb on top of him and start undressing him, Raihan couldn’t afford anymore time to waste, and with a disappointed groan, he leaned away from the kiss to the sight of Hop’s flushed face, his glasses fogging up and that _drove Raihan wild._ Fuck this insufferable stupid tournament, he was horny and he wanted to fuck Hop _right this second._

That would only make coming back home that much easier. He’d have something to look forward to.

With an annoyed sigh at the fact he didn’t want to leave, Raihan lifted himself away from Hop, the kid furiously wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, causing Raihan to laugh. “Careful, babe, you’re only gonna rub me all over you that way.”

“Fuck you.”

Any other time he’d be annoyed at Hop for snapping at him like that, but that flutter in his chest put him in too good of a mood to really feel anything other than happiness right now. Besides, Hop looked so adorable lying there, lips glistening from Raihan’s eagerness, the fog on his glasses slowly disappearing, but his face was still a deep shade of red, and holy _FUCK_ why did Raihan have to leave him here? It was so hard to step away, but dammit, he _had_ to. Raihan had no choice.

Letting out a soft laugh, he ruffled Hop’s hair, the kid flinching back when he did so, but he just smiled down at him. “You’re too cute, Hop. Makes me not wanna leave.”

“Maybe you should.” Again, Hop wiped his mouth with his arm, gaze having trailed off to the wall. The blush was still there. “Leave and never come back ever again.”

Raihan sighed, rolling his eyes as he trudged across the room toward the doorway. “Let’s just settle on a compromise. I’ll leave you here all day for you to get nice and comfortable, sort out your thoughts, do whatever you gotta do, but once I come back, we got some things to talk about. Sound good?”

No response, just another movement from Hop that resorted in him squeezing the sheets below him again, but Raihan let out a sigh at Hop’s lack of reply. Not that he really blamed him, but while his smartass comments could be grating, Raihan would let them slide for now. That kiss put him in a better mood than he ever thought was possible, so he couldn’t really be mad at Hop right now.

“Alright. I’ll get you those meds then I gotta skedaddle.” With that, Raihan turned, closing Hop’s door behind him. He had already wasted enough time fooling around with him, as a quick glance at the clock made him swear between his teeth. It was almost six, which was when the train was set to leave, and he really did need to hurry now, lest he wind up having to fly to Wyndon himself which he didn’t really want to do. It was way colder up there than in Hammerlocke, and Raihan didn’t do that well in cold weather. He hated bundling up—it felt suffocating.

But, he could push all those thoughts out of his head for now. As he grabbed Hop the bottle of pills, gave the kid another final smile which gained him absolutely _no_ response to, closing his bedroom door and locking it behind him, Raihan could let out a sigh of relief. Having Hop here made him weirdly happy, as now he had something to look forward to when he came back home. It was weird to think of Hop as his prize for getting through this stupid tournament, but the more he thought on it, the happier it made him.

Even if he didn’t come around right off the bat, simply having the kid here all to himself made a bundle of excited nerves swell in his stomach, and Raihan didn’t realize he had been grinning until he got to the station. For Hop to have this much of an effect on him, even to the point Raihan could still feel how soft his lips had been against his—it drove him crazy, made his heart swell, and only drove home the fact that—

That Raihan liked him. Holy _shit_ , did he love that kid. Nobody had ever managed to make Raihan feel this way, feel this giddy, this sense of happiness that nobody, not even Leon, had ever given him before.

As he managed to board his train, sitting by the window while it carried him off to Wyndon, he caught sight of his own reflection in the window to find that he was still smiling. Still thinking about Hop. Still gushing over the fact maybe his feelings for him ran much deeper than Raihan ever thought they had before.

And while that thought frightened him a little, it also made him so, _so_ happy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOOK AT THIS BEAUTIFUL FANART CHICACHI DREW FOR THIS FIC!!
> 
> https://twitter.com/thechicachi/status/1274104714448289792?s=21
> 
> Thank you so much ;-; please go show them your love!

It was barely pushing six-thirty that morning by the time Raihan arrived in Wyndon. Not only was he grumpy from lack of sleep and having to leave Hop behind when he wanted nothing more than to stay home with the kid, but he was cold. Raihan hated being cold. Despite how summer was swarming over Galar to the point almost everywhere was muggy, Wyndon always felt colder, being further north than anywhere else, of course the climate would be a little different, but Raihan was always thrown for a loop just how _drastic_ the change was.

He had worn his gym shorts, as per protocol more than anything, bringing his hoodie along when he knew the second he stepped out of that train, he was going to get slapped in the face with chilly air—and he wasn’t wrong. Throwing his hoodie over his head, Raihan continued complaining to himself as he reached the square, occasionally rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he did so. He spotted Nessa who always looked camera ready, despite it being as early as it was, and they made eye contact for a brief moment before she waved at him.

It wasn’t that Raihan didn’t get along with the other gym leaders—hell, he had _slept_ with some of them even, but Nessa shot him down the instant he’d tried to flirt with her, and ever since then, he couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward around her. Even so, he waved back, trying his best to shoot her a smile, but it didn’t amount to much in the end. It wasn’t like he had anything to be embarrassed about as Raihan was no stranger to rejection or random hookups, but—

He couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty he had gone through a period of his life where he had pushed all of his feelings for Hop to the back of his mind in favor of going batshit insane. There were dalliances, late night rendezvouses with people he had barely spoken two words to, nights where he’d make out with other gym leaders, let them tie him to his bed and fuck him raw, nights where Raihan was drunk off his ass as he fucked someone he didn’t give two shits about and never saw them again.

And still—none of what he’d done ever made those feelings for Hop disappear. He had tried to—Raihan tried so hard to convince himself he didn’t have a thing for Leon’s little brother, he wasn’t attracted to a teenager, and in some way, he thought maybe if he bedded enough people that those obsessive thoughts would finally disappear. If Raihan forgot about him, let the kid live his life, stayed the hell away from him, he would _‘cure’_ himself. Obviously, it did no damn good as even standing there in the plaza shivering his nuts off at the ass-crack of dawn, Raihan couldn’t stop thinking about him.

In his rather sleep-deprived haze, along with his reservations about the weather, Raihan couldn’t help but think what Hop was doing right now. Had he gone back to sleep? Maybe gotten out of bed to wander around? Was he trying to force his way through the door in a desperate attempt to escape? Or maybe he accepted the situation for what it was and decided to save his strength.

Raihan sighed, wishing more than anything he didn’t have to be here. There were so many things he wanted to sit and talk to Hop about, his mind buzzing with so many thoughts at once that he risked giving himself another headache, but when a hand clapped itself on his shoulder, he was ripped out of his daydreams and whipped around to see the bright and smiling mug of Leon.

“Rai!” His grin dropped slightly. “You look awful.”

Oh, he didn’t even know the _half_ of it. “Thanks, you too.”

Letting out a nervous laugh, Leon’s smile turned sheepish. “Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“I know that, mate, it’s fine. You ain’t gonna hurt my feelings or nothing.” Raihan shrugged, trying to lighten the mood, but even Leon’s smile couldn’t bring him out of his slog. Normally, seeing Leon would put Raihan in a better mood, as the guy was always smiling, always taking things as they came, and Raihan really did love hanging out with him. Being with Leon was one of the only things Raihan looked forward to, but—

Looking at his friend now, his shining eyes that held so much warmth in them, his wide grin that was infectious to anyone who saw it, Raihan had tired to convince himself he was once in love with this person, because he couldn’t handle the thought of being attracted to his younger brother. Leon was the one he spent more time with than anyone, Leon was the one who was his rival back when they were teenagers—and still was to this day. They had a healthy competitive friendship, one that Raihan wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.

But.

His chest tightened as he looked at him, because he felt nothing. Absolutely nothing for Leon right now. All that time Raihan spent in denial, lying awake at night trying to convince himself it was Leon he loved, it was Leon he had feelings for, not Hop, not for the kid—he had spent so long lying to himself that he assumed it must be true, because Raihan wasn’t a pervert. He wasn’t a sick fuck.

There were no feelings there. No matter how much he tried to lie to himself, being right next to Leon only hammered in the realization that Raihan had been playing himself for a fool for far too long. He didn’t love Leon. Not like that. Not like…he swallowed. Not the way he felt about Hop. Leon was just his friend, and nothing more.

“Hey, you alright, Rai?”

He hadn’t realized his gaze fell to the ground at some point, hands dug into his hoodie, but Leon’s voice snapped him back to reality and Raihan lifted his head to see Leon pinching his brows in worry. Nervously, he reached up and fiddled with the back of his headband, trying to quell the tightening of his chest. Why the fuck was he acting this way? “Y-yeah, I’m great, champ. Just had a restless night. Little tired is all.”

He worried for a moment Leon might not take his excuse, but he soon gave Raihan an empathetic smile. “Oh yeah, they’re making us come here earlier and earlier every year.”

“You live here though.”

“I don’t like getting up early like this either.”

Raihan had to snort through his nose, taking a moment to stretch his back and pop a few bones while he was at it before he turned his gaze past Leon. From where the two stood, Raihan could make out a few other gym leaders exiting the station and he let out a sigh as he trailed his gaze over toward the stadium. “Guess we should start heading in. When do the semi-finals even start?”

Leon shrugged, striding past Raihan and the pair began to make their way down the street toward the stadium. “They said about eight this morning.”

Raihan groaned, huddling down in his hoodie when a rather chilly breeze blew through then. “Why so damn early?”

Chuckling next to him, Leon shrugged again, smiling back over at him as they took to the sidewalk. A few residents who were mingling around stopped and stared at the pair as they walked, Raihan trying to ignore their gazes. Even though Leon lived up here, the guy still drew a crowd wherever he went, and while Raihan wasn’t as popular as the champion himself, he was no stranger to unwanted attention and ogling. Still, they walked and talked, chatting about nonsensical things and ignoring the stares from those around them as they approached the stadium.

Raihan let out a yawn as they entered the building. It was so early in the morning and not even all of the lights were on just yet, and a few staff members were running back and forth, trying to set up things for the matches that would take place. Ugh, if the semi-finals didn’t even start until eight, there was no telling when the finals would happen. Leon was right, they were starting earlier and earlier every year, trying to squeeze both semi-finals and finals into one day, but Raihan had to swallow a bundle of nerves in his throat at the thought of Hop not showing up for his match.

Any gym challenger that made it this far would have to register, and Leon would definitely notice if his brother didn’t show up for his match. The guy may have been ditzy and a little unobservant, but he wasn’t stupid. The bundle of nerves in Raihan’s throat traveled down to his stomach and no matter how he tried to will them away, they wouldn’t leave. Honestly, if it were anyone else, Raihan knew the show would just go on, and the same would be said for Hop not showing up. The match would simply go on without him. Even if he was the champion’s brother, it wasn’t like they would give special treatment and postpone a match just because a challenger failed to show up.

Raihan swallowed. At least he hoped to fuck not. He was already exhausted from lack of sleep, and in his deprived state, knew he probably wouldn’t be able to keep his composure if people were to start questioning him. He had to remain calm. That was another reason he loathed coming here today—he didn’t want to deal with this bullshit. The inevitable concern Leon would have when Hop failed to make an appearance was enough to put Raihan on edge, but he knew nothing. He wasn’t involved. He had _nothing_ to do with Hop right now.

Raihan sighed, huddling further down into his hoodie for warmth. Right. Nobody would suspect him. Nobody knew Hop was back in Hammerlocke, hidden away in one of the castle towers, far, far from peering eyes. He wasn’t going anywhere, Raihan was sure of it.

“You want breakfast?” Breaking him out of his thoughts once again (and Raihan was spacing out a lot this morning), Leon gestured toward the food court off to the side where staff members were just starting to get ready for the day.

Raihan shrugged, pulling his phone from his pocket to see he had about a bazillion notifications on his various social medias, but that wasn’t unusual. “Not really hungry, but I could use a coffee.”

Leon smiled. “Want me to buy?”

“If you want, mate.”

Leon laughed, reaching into his pocket to pull out a small wad of money. “I could use a coffee myself. I was too excited to sleep last night either.” His smile turned soft. “It feels like just yesterday I was down in Postwick for the weekend. I can’t believe I’m about to see my little brother compete in the semi-finals.”

If the coffee wouldn’t have woken him up, _that_ certainly did the trick. Raihan stiffened, cold sweat forming on the nape of his neck as he removed his focus from scrolling on his phone, instead turning to Leon who he could tell, even from here, even in the dim lighting of the building, that his cheeks were reddening.

What…Raihan’s throat felt tight. What did _that_ mean? Why was Leon blushing? Was that even blush or was Raihan so sleep-deprived and exhausted that he was seeing things? He wanted so much for the latter to be true.

If anyone else had seen that expression on Leon’s face, his eyes lidded and soft, as though he were reliving a very pleasant memory, they would have just assumed he was a doting older brother, and while he was, Raihan couldn’t help but clench his phone tighter in his hands as he watched him talk about Hop like that. _Of course_ , Leon would dote on him, he was his brother for crying out loud—Leon did nothing _but_ dote on Hop, which Raihan wanted nothing more than to join in on sometimes, but he always remained passive, always neutral whenever they’d talk about that kid. If Leon ever found out he had feelings for him, Raihan didn’t know how he would react and to be honest, he would rather never find out.

But seeing Leon blush (or maybe not), made a sour taste appear in the back of Raihan’s mouth and he cleared his throat to try and make it disappear. It didn’t, but hell—he had to do something to stop his thoughts from going somewhere he didn’t want them to be going right now.

Because he knew. Raihan knew if he had seen that right and Leon was blushing while talking about his brother—Raihan would get angry. And why? He had no fucking idea _why_ , that was the frustrating thing about it, but he bit his bottom lip, pocketing his phone and trying not to think too hard about it. Leon was just being Leon, also known as Leon was being a dumbass and Raihan couldn’t blame him at all for gushing about Hop for making it as far as he did. Leon had every right to be proud of his brother, he knew that. Raihan wasn’t allowed to take that away from him.

As hard as it was, Raihan swallowed again, suddenly feeling hot and sweaty, but he had to look away from Leon’s face before he opened his mouth. “I’m sure the kid wants to do good by you, you know? He worked hard.” Guilt festered down into his stomach, making him feel nauseated again. Oh, that was going to be fun to deal with if Raihan was sick to his stomach this entire time. _Yay._

Leon shrugged, having finally pulled a few wads of cash out before pocketing the rest, and shooting Raihan a grin. “I know he tries his best. Wish I could tell him how proud I am of him, but I don’t want to fluster him. You want black, right?”

The question was so sudden, Raihan having been trying his hardest not to let Leon’s words make that horrible feeling constrict his chest that it threw him off. “Huh?”

Leon blinked. “Coffee? Black, right?”

“Oh yeah, yeah. Black is fine.” It was getting even harder to compose himself the longer he stood there talking to Leon. They needed to change the topic fast or else Raihan might do or say something he regretted, but he stood there, shifting the weight on his feet as Leon strode over toward the food court to get the pair some coffee.

Ugh—why the fuck was he acting like this? This wasn’t anything new. Leon always talked about Hop like this. He always gushed about him, spoke highly of him, sometimes even annoying Raihan, because while he agreed with everything Leon had to say about Hop in regards to what a great person he was, there was always that gross feeling that lingered in the back of his mind that Raihan buried deep, deep down. So, why the fuck was it coming out now of all times?

He swallowed. Because…

Because Raihan had sex with him. Just last night, Raihan was balls deep in Leon’s little brother, having him moan around him, come for him, cry out for him as he pounded him into the mattress, and to hear Leon speak of him when Raihan knew he had seen a side of Hop Leon was _never_ going to see—he felt the strangest urge to turn on his heels and walk right out of that building. Right back to Hammerlocke. Back to the tower and back to Hop where he would scoop him up in his arms and hold him close. Raihan wasn’t the clingy sort, but Hop was turning him into one. Even being with Leon like this, Raihan felt like a part of himself had been left back at the castle, and he just wanted to be with Hop right now.

Seeing that look on Leon’s face only solidified Raihan’s feelings all the more. He was jealous. He knew he was. No matter how much he denied it, how hard he buried down his feelings until he wanted to stomp them out of existence, Raihan had had a thing for Hop for _years_. Ever since before he even really knew what the hell was wrong with him, but seeing Leon talk about him like this, especially after Raihan had fucked Hop and _enjoyed every fucking second of it_ —his burning desire for the kid was still there. Nobody, not even Leon, not even Hop’s stupid older brother, got to think even for a second Hop didn’t belong to _Raihan_. He had gone through the effort to whisk him away, snatch him up and lock him in the tower where Raihan got to see him vulnerable, Raihan got to hear the way he sounded when he was turned on, Raihan—only Raihan—got to be his first kiss. His first fuck.

Raihan had taken everything away from Hop, and it was always going to be _his_. Hop’s first kiss belonged to Raihan. Hop’s first lay belonged to Raihan—everything that they’d done last night, it all belonged to him.

He thought with a bitter taste in the back of his mouth as he watched Leon order their coffee that if he _really_ cared about Hop, he would have saved him. Leon would somehow sense Hop was in danger (even though he wasn’t), stormed the castle like a knight in shining armor, and taken Hop back.

But he didn’t.

He didn’t even call him (Raihan made sure to check the kid’s phone for any evidence of that and found none).

He didn’t even make sure Hop had arrived in Wyndon safely, so the longer Raihan stood there, the more gratification he got from the idea that Leon would panic eventually. He would wonder where Hop was, having no idea what happened— _but that would be his fucking fault._ Leon would have to live with the guilt he didn’t take better care of his brother like he was supposed to.

Raihan grimaced, shuffling his weight again as he frowned down at his own shoes. Fuck this. Fuck all of this. The moment this stupid tournament was over, Raihan was hauling ass back to Hammerlocke. Jealously be damned, Leon didn’t deserve someone like Hop in his life. The guy was too stupid to keep him safe, but while Raihan knew he was guilty of some pretty lofty shit himself, he still felt immense satisfaction knowing Hop was locked away in the castle where nobody would find him.

It was only Raihan’s right. Only Raihan got to see a side of him nobody else was allowed to. Not even Leon.

Hop belonged to _him_. He’d make sure the kid never forgot that when he got home.

So lost in his thoughts was Raihan he almost didn’t realize Leon was handing off a cup of coffee to him until he nudged at him with his elbow, snapping him back to reality. Taking the cup from him, Raihan hoped the bitter taste and sting on his tongue from the heat would snap him out of it, but it didn’t unfortunately. Leon shot him a rather concerned stare as he sipped on his cup, no doubt having loaded it up with sugar beforehand.

“Wow, you really must be tired, Rai. Never seen you so out of it before. You sure you’re okay?”

Raihan nodded, taking another huge gulp of coffee and wincing when it burned. “Fine, champ, I’m fine. Just tired.”

“Do you wanna crash at my place tonight? It’d be better than staying in a hotel.”

Snorting, Raihan stared down at his cup, steam wafting off what was left inside, and giving it a small glare like it would make any of his sour mood better. “Nah. I’m not staying here tonight.”

Before Leon could open his mouth and question him, Raihan let out a sigh, knowing he was being huffy and curt, but truth be told, he was grumpy as fuck, and everything happening was only worsening his mood. Was it too much to want this day to be over as soon as possible so he could go home and hold onto Hop? Apparently, it was. “I ain’t interested in any after parties or nothing. Soon as I’m done, I’m out.”

He knew he was being a grouch, but dammit, he just didn’t care. Leon only tipped his cup back to sip his coffee before giving a slow nod. “Okay, if that’s what you want.”

 _Ugh_ , even while being a little miffed at Leon, Raihan couldn’t help to let out a sigh and throw his head back. Leon was still his friend. Just because he didn’t deserve to have Hop as his brother didn’t mean Raihan hated him by any means. “Sorry, champ. I’m just grumpy from no sleep.”

Perking up a bit, Leon’s smile returned, and he slapped Raihan on the shoulder as a gesture of good will. “No worries. We’ll have to catch up again some other time. I still have an entire bottle of vodka at my place we never finished.”

Raihan cringed a little, remembering how last time he hung out with Leon, he had presented him a bottle of vodka with whipped cream flavoring. Just the thought made Raihan want to retch. Who the fuck put whipped cream in vodka? “Eh…you can drink that all you want. I’m fine with rum.”

“Whatever you say.”

As the morning waned on, more staff members coming in to get the stadium ready for the crowds, Raihan and the rest of the gym leaders filed down toward the basement to prepare for the finals. Leon got his own private locker room (one that was _much_ nicer to boot), where he was no doubt watching the matches on the monitor, but Raihan sat on one of the benches, fidgeting the more the morning droned on. It was eight by this point, and the stadium was soon filled the with cheering and jeers of people, creating a constant loud buzz nobody could escape from, especially not Raihan. It was going to be impossible to even hear his own thoughts, but maybe that was a good thing.

As he played around on his phone, bouncing his leg up and down, Raihan kept flicking his gaze up toward the monitor to watch the semi-finals go underway. Gloria was one of the first people to come out onto the pitch, along with Piers’s little sister. It didn’t take long for Gloria to wipe the floor with her, and Raihan only fidgeted more as time dragged by. 

This was supposed to be the moment Hop and Gloria faced off against one another. Only one of them would be going to finals, but since Hop never even got registered, that was going to fall on Gloria automatically. Sweat beaded his forehead as Raihan sat there, trying his hardest to appear nonchalant, but with the buzzing of the crowd going on, along with the other gym leaders chatting amongst themselves, he found he couldn’t focus at all. He had a feeling things were about to get rowdy, but he pushed himself off the bench, trying to bite down his nerves. He was acting guilty, he knew that, but he was trying so hard to remain neutral. He had to remember he had no idea Hop never showed up here. Hop never got registered. Hop was supposed to be the last thing on his mind right now, but Raihan entered through the back room where a bunch of snack machines were tucked away.

A door to the bathroom was next to the snack machines and Raihan wasted no more time before entering the men’s restroom and locking himself up in a stall. He didn’t even have to pee, but he simply stood there, trying to take a moment he wasn’t surrounded by people to compose himself and collect his thoughts.

But, no matter what he did, anytime Raihan managed to clear his head and focus, all of his thoughts went straight back to Hop. Was he okay? Were the snacks Raihan got for him going to be enough to tide him over for the day? He should have spent the night surveying the tower to ensure Hop couldn’t leave so that he could let him have free reign while he was away. He hated that he had to keep him locked in his room all day with nowhere to go other than his bathroom. There was nothing for the poor kid to do in there, and Raihan knew he had to be bored out of his skull.

While his worries were clouding his head like a fog, Raihan couldn’t help but blush at the memory of Hop lying naked underneath him. He was so petite—it was endearing and gave Raihan an immense sense of satisfaction when he loomed over him the way he did. Hop was small, but not _too_ small. Small enough. Perfect. And he fit below Raihan like he was made to be below him, like he belonged there. The way he moaned around him when Raihan finally got to fuck him was one of the most amazing things Raihan had ever gotten to experience.

No, he wasn’t a stranger to sex, but sex with Hop had been—

He inhaled, the memories going straight to his cock and he swallowed when he felt it twitch beneath his shorts.

Sex with Hop had been unlike anything he’d imagined it would be. Raihan never realized seeing the kid like that would feel so fucking good, but he could honestly say it was the best he’d ever had and doubted if he ever fucked anyone else ever again, he probably wouldn’t feel that good anymore.

He could still hear his heavy breathing as he rocked into him, could still hear the moans that bubbled from his throat like it was music to his ears, could still feel every tremble Hop made below him while he pounded into him over and over, bringing him up in his lap to kiss him. Kissing Hop was intoxicating—like Raihan was high off him, off his scent, off the feeling of him bouncing in his lap, and he wanted to drink it up for all its worth.

He barely registered that he had placed his palm against the door of the bathroom stall, his opposite hand trailing down to pull back the elastic of his shorts, but Raihan dragged his fingers along his dick as he thought about Hop. He wanted to fuck him again so bad he could hardly stand it—without the blindfold. Without the binds. He wanted Hop to stare into his eyes while he moaned for him, while he called Raihan’s name and he got to see those big eyes of his glaze over in pleasure. Raihan wanted the kid to drown in it, to drown in the feeling of Raihan going inside of him, to know exactly who he belonged to, know exactly who was making him feel that good.

With a few tentative strokes, Raihan gripped hold of his cock and pumped himself, having pulled the elastic down his hips far enough to expose himself that didn’t feel so suffocating. He would be much gentler with the kid this time, kissing him with feeling, holding onto him like he was made of glass. Raihan didn’t want to hurt him, he didn’t want to fuck him so hard that Hop was crying from pain and not pleasure. Sex wasn’t supposed to be something scary, and Raihan wanted Hop to know how good it could feel, especially with him. He wanted Hop to be begging him for it, begging him for more, for Raihan to fill him up, for Raihan to come so hard that it leaked from him, to show Hop just how crazy he was about him.

Raihan’s cock grew hard as he stroked himself, as he tried to quiet down his own moans lest anyone walk into the bathroom while he was in here, but he couldn’t help but think about Hop. Leon didn’t appreciate him like he should have, but that was just fine with Raihan. Thinking about his friend like this—Raihan used to moan Leon’s name when he’d touch himself, when he tried so hard to picture that dumbass sucking him off or staring up at him with those golden eyes.

But, the image of Leon’s face giving him that flirty smile always turned into Hop’s face, and Raihan knew he was fucked from the beginning. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get that kid out of his mind. He couldn’t lie to himself. Not after fucking him, after getting to see just what Hop was like in bed, moaning below him, taking him so well that Raihan could be convinced the kid _was made just for him._

Precum seeped from the tip of his cock as he imagined Hop reaching up to touch his face while he fucked him, while the kid moaned in pleasure from everything that Raihan gave to him, everything he could offer him. Raihan wanted to kiss him, to have Hop reach around and grab the back of his neck, pull him closer, tell Raihan how good he felt inside of him as he moaned. Raihan wanted Hop to wrap his legs around him, pull them closer and closer, until Raihan would surely lose his fucking mind. Hop would be overwhelming, in his scent and body, in that glazed look through his lidded eyes. Raihan wanted him to cry out in pleasure, to arch back when he came, to kiss Raihan so hard that he saw stars—he wanted—

Raihan’s breathing hardened at the thought of Hop shoving his tongue in his mouth, and he would feel so small below him. With Raihan hovered over his body, he would cover him completely, and Hop would take him so well, he would tell Raihan how amazing it was, how full he was, how good he felt, and—

Biting his lip, his orgasm creeping, Raihan swallowed his moans as he stroked himself faster and faster, using his precum as lube, the image of Hop’s blushing face coated with pleasure never once leaving his mind.

And Hop would say that he loved him. He would grip hold of Raihan’s face post orgasm, once he had recovered from his high, kiss him on the mouth, and pull back with lidded eyes, giving Raihan the sultriest look he had ever seen on him before.

Hop would open his mouth as Raihan continued to thrust in and out of him, and say in a hushed whisper, just loud enough for Raihan to hear—he would say that he loved him. He loved Raihan so much, he had always loved him.

And Raihan lost it.

Pumping his entire length, his orgasm peaked and with a strangled grunt, he came. He came so hard that it felt like every single emotion was purged from his body, every one of his worries, his thoughts, his happiness, everything exploded out of him just then. He gasped, holding up his arm to cover the sounds that escaped through his mouth as he rode himself dry.

“H…Hop…” As he came down from his high, the pleasure from orgasm never lasting nearly long enough for him, Raihan said the kid’s name with a soft gasp. It felt so sweet to say his name, to think of him like that, to imagine that he would kiss Raihan with conviction and tell him how much he loved him—all of it was enough to make Raihan slump against the door, exhausted.

He breathed heavy, trying to catch himself and remember where he was and what he was supposed to be doing, but even then, he could feel the heat gush from his cheeks, and with his exhaustion coming back to bite him straight in the ass, he wished right then and there that he could drop everything and return home.

Raihan wanted nothing more than to curl up next to Hop, wrap his arms around the kid, and fall asleep.

There was some kind of commotion outside the bathroom at that point. Other than the cheering and jeering of the crowd they could hear all the way from the basement, Raihan thought he heard someone say something through the loud speakers, but he wasn’t sure what was going on. For now, he cleaned himself up, wiping away the evidence of his mess from the stall before he exited and splashed his face with cold water at the sink. Looking at his reflection in the mirror only made him shrink back at the sight of himself. Very subtle bags rested underneath his eyes, not enough for someone to notice, but noticeable enough for him, and with a weighted sigh, Raihan patted his hands dry before exiting the bathroom.

Could today just end already so he could go home? He wanted to be with Hop so bad right now. The fact he couldn’t go anywhere only made him more antsy until he was ready to bounce out of his own skin with anticipation.

Once Raihan rounded the corner to the locker room, he caught sight of most of the gym leaders’ eyes glued to the monitor. Turning his gaze in the same direction, Raihan returned his hands to the front pocket of his hoodie, hoping that the sounds going on outside were loud enough that nobody heard what he’d been doing in the bathroom (even though he had tried his best to be quiet, some of those sounds just couldn’t be helped).

“What’s going on?” he asked as he sidled up to Nessa. Her eyes still glued to the screen, she shrugged.

“They’re moving forward with the finals.”

“Already? It’s only been like an hour and a half.”

She nodded. “Yeah. Not sure why they’re rushing.”

Raihan had a pretty good idea why, but he kept his mouth glued shut. He knew it was because Hop never registered. There was an opening, a match that never took place, so of course they would want to go ahead with the finals. Huffing, he moved away from Nessa to plop himself back down on the bench, stretching his legs as he did so. At least this way, maybe he could go home earlier than he figured. These matches were usually an all day thing when they happened, but Raihan might could get away with leaving sometime this afternoon at this rate. He wasn’t about to hold his breath, but it’d be nice to get home as soon as possible.

Along with the rest of the gym leaders, Raihan sat hunkered down in the locker rooms for what felt like hours that morning. One by one, each gym leader filed out to face off against a challenger, and Raihan could have fallen asleep right there on the bench if he wasn’t careful, but his phone buzzed in his front pocket after awhile. Grumbling as he was still somewhat grumpy, Raihan fished it out to see that Leon was calling him.

Oh fuck, here they went. With his throat tightened and a cold sweat forming on his neck, Raihan steeled himself before he hit the green button to accept. “Yo champ, what’s up?” He tried his damndest to keep his voice from trembling.

“Hey, I’m okay.” Though, Raihan could hear in his voice that Leon sounded unnerved. It only made Raihan’s chest tighten at the sound of it. He knew exactly why he’d called. “Listen, I’m probably just worrying over nothing, but have you seen Hop? He never showed up for his match.”

 _Don’t fucking panic now._ Raihan swallowed, trying his hardest to remain neutral. Leon had a definite air of worry in his tone, and it should have made Raihan feel guilty he was the cause of it, but he also argued with himself that this was Leon’s fault to begin with. Leaving the kid like that where anybody could have done something awful to him. What if it had been anyone other than Raihan who whisked him away?

 _Yeah, but look what you did to him, asshole._ Even Raihan’s own thoughts were biting back at him and he inhaled through his nose. He knew he had gotten way too rough with Hop the night before, but he wasn’t going to do that anymore. The kid deserved to be treated like a priceless artifact—with the utmost care. He didn’t deserve to have Raihan lose himself to his own lust and go at him so hard like he had. Raihan swore he would never make that kid cry ever again if he could help it.

So, with that thought in mind, he slouched back in his seat, eyelids heavy from exhaustion, but his nerves were mostly the only thing keeping him awake at this point. “No. Haven’t seen him. He tore out of Hammerlocke pretty quick last night after his match with me.” Just so long as nobody contradicted him on that, Raihan would be safe. It wasn’t like anybody else gave a single shit about Hop—not even his own brother. It wasn’t until he turned up missing did anyone notice him, but Raihan could at least feel a small tinge of satisfaction in the fact that he had noticed Hop long, long before any of these assholes ever did.

“Oh.” Leon let out a soft, resounding sigh before Raihan could hear him gulp on the other line. “I tried to call his phone, but it sent me straight to voicemail. Mum hasn’t seen him, and Gloria told me he never showed up to the hotel last night to meet her and he won’t return her calls either.”

Raihan stiffened. Don’t panic, just play it cool. He knew nothing. Absolutely nothing. “I’m sure he’s fine, champ. Kid can take care of himself.” Not like Leon would know that, Raihan thought to himself begrudgingly. How was it possible he spent so long trying to convince himself he was in love with Leon out of sheer desperation not to give into his desires for Hop, to being reduced to this? Just talking with him about Hop was making Raihan jealous all over again.

“He was _so_ excited about this, Rai. I mean—I’m not worried about him taking care of himself, but for him not to even show up for his match—that’s unheard of. I’m worried something happened to him.”

“Don’t you think you’re overreacting?” Like Raihan was one to talk. “I know it was an important match for him, but maybe the kid got caught up in doing something, or maybe he got cold feet, you know? Try not to worry, champ.”

There was a sigh on the other line, along with a long bout of silence which did nothing to ease Raihan’s worries as he was practically vibrating in his seat by this point. He had tried hard to remain neutral, but he just hoped Leon was too dumb to realize he was deterring him from postponing the tournament, or leaving in the middle to go on the hunt for his brother. If he would just let things happen like they were supposed to today, minus Hop, then Raihan could get the hell out of here and go home already. It wasn’t like anybody else in this stadium gave a single flying fuck about Hop. Not like Raihan did. That’s why Hop was safe and sound back at the castle—because Raihan _cared_ about him. He was the only one who did.

Finally, after the longest stretch of silence Raihan had ever felt in his life, Leon let out another sigh. “You’re right. He probably got cold feet, knowing him. I’ll have to see if I can’t find where he wandered off to later. Sorry to bother you.”

Leon’s complacency only made Raihan nibble his lower lip in annoyance. This is exactly what he wanted—for Leon to drop the matter and go about things as normal, but at the same time, he was irritated at Leon’s complicity to so easily brush his brother off like that. This fucking dumbass—Raihan frowned to himself, glad that Leon couldn’t see the face he was making that no doubt would be telling his best friend to eat shit and die had he seen it. Hop deserved so much better than this, than to be related to this idiot.

“No worries, champ.”

“Good luck out there, Rai.”

“Thanks.”

* * *

  
The crowd was absolutely overwhelming, along with Raihan’s muddled thoughts and exhaustion that had caught up to him full force—it was no wonder he lost to Gloria out there. Normally, it would put him down in the dumps, but he was just so glad that the match was over and he could go home. Even back in the locker rooms, the sun beginning to dip until the entire stadium was awash with an orange glow, the other gym leaders were still peppy and excited, everyone itching to see Leon face off against Gloria.

Raihan wasn’t thrilled by any means. Now that his match was over, the very last match before the championship at that, he was preparing to gather his shit and go home. The match would be live streaming on several sites, he was sure. If anything, he could watch it on the train ride back to Hammerlocke where he’d at least feel less guilty about not supporting Leon. Despite the two of them being rivals and how he was annoying the shit out of Raihan lately, the guy was still his best friend, and he was still going to support him. At least when it came to Pokémon battling.

But right now, Raihan having stretched to pop his back in several places, his eyelids heavy and desperate for sleep, he peeled out of the locker room without a word to anyone. He had already told Leon he wasn’t staying and knew there was probably going to be a big party after the match. Wyndon would be absolutely swarming with people when that happened, and normally Raihan would want to join in on the fun and get drunk, but that just wasn’t happening. He and Leon could get drunk together another night.

Once he’d exited the stadium, the audience from inside bustling alive with cheering and chanting, the outskirts of the city actually seemed way too quiet. Everyone had squeezed into the stadium to see the match between Leon and Gloria, so it was a little odd traveling down the sidewalk like Raihan was, only to be met with rather eerie silence. If a tumbleweed blew across in front of him then, he wouldn’t have been surprised.

The train station was pretty deserted, much to Raihan’s delight. Not so much to his delight, however, was the fact the next train wouldn’t be leaving for another fifteen minutes and he grumbled to himself, settling down on a bench before fishing out his phone. After a quick search, he found a live feed of the championship match and leaned back in his seat to watch the action.

Both Leon and Gloria were pretty much neck and neck. With the announcer overhead narrating the entire match, it wasn’t difficult to see that Leon was getting backed into a corner. Gloria was pretty strong, having wiped out Raihan when he battled her twice at this point like he was nothing, but he could always say during the finals that his head was too clouded. Yeah. That was a valid excuse. The entire match, all he could think about was Hop after all.

And his thoughts trailed right back to that kid. Even during his match with him, Hop had fought him with determination, that fire in his eyes reminding him so much of Leon anytime they battled, but the difference was that Hop lacked most of the confidence Leon exhibited. The kid didn’t suck at what he did by any means, but Raihan always noticed a hesitance anytime he’d shout out a command, or how he seemed to be holding back tears anytime his Pokémon got hurt.

He had to snort through his nose at the image of that kid’s face anytime he’d knock out his Pokémon. Hop really was a sweet kid. He knew that more than anyone, after all. Not many people got that upset over their Pokémon fainting during a battle, seeing as they could recover quite easily, but Hop had a tender heart for that sort of thing, Raihan could tell. Even back when he followed him around, Hop always showed more empathy toward others than for himself, and it was easy for people to take advantage of him.

Like his brother.

Raihan’s hand clutched at his phone tighter as he thought back to the way Leon blushed when speaking about Hop earlier that morning. Even if he did have a crush on his little brother, what the fuck made Leon think he had any right to think of Hop that way? The kid deserved way better, he deserved someone who actually cared about him, who didn’t treat him like an afterthought. Raihan knew there was a bond he couldn’t possibly begin to understand between the two brothers, seeing as he hadn’t any siblings of his own, but that didn’t give Leon automatic rights to Hop’s affections. The kid sure did look up to him, he knew, and when he was much younger, Raihan used to think it was cute. Cute for a little kid like Hop to think his dumbass brother was so great when Raihan knew he was—well…a _dumbass_.

But now.

He sighed, leaning back in his chair the longer the battle waned, and slouching until his lower back was suffering from it.

Now, he just got a bitter taste in his mouth anytime he thought about the way Hop idolized his brother like he did. Leon didn’t deserve that kind of idolization, especially not from Hop, when he didn’t appreciate him like Raihan did. If Leon ever— _ever_ made it known to Raihan that he liked Hop as more than a brother, Raihan would probably sock him in the face. Just thinking about the way he looked this morning while talking about Hop made Raihan grumpy all over again, and the only saving grace from making him completely pissed off was the fact his train finally arrived.

Raihan remained glued to his phone the whole ride back to Hammerlocke, the battle still very much droning on. Every time it looked like Gloria had the upper hand, Leon would throw a surprise attack and back her into a corner. It was vice versa on Leon’s end as well. This battle was so tight that it was annoying Raihan when he wished one of them would lose already. The way things were going though, it wasn’t clear who might end up winning, and he’d probably pass out when he got home before he saw the result.

That wasn’t such a bad idea though. Raihan had been running on fumes the entire day and he was fucking tired. The second he got home, he’d take a fast shower and fall face-first into bed.

The sun had set by the time he arrived in Hammerlocke, the championship battle still very much underway, and Raihan turned his phone off more in annoyance that nobody was winning than anything. However long that fight took, he’d see who won in the morning, but he didn’t really care right now. The castle was right around the corner, Raihan dipping into a side entrance that was hidden from most of the public to allow himself some privacy in climbing the stairs to the top of the tower. Elevators had been installed for most of the bottom floors due to the hotels, but once it reached a certain level, Raihan had to climb the stairs himself, so he was even more grumpy by the time he reached the tower.

Upon entering his living quarters, Raihan let out a sigh. It was quiet, so quiet the only sound he could hear was his own heavy breathing from climbing all those stairs, but he trudged along, rounding the corner until he stopped at Hop’s door. It had gotten rather late by this point, though he figured Hop would probably be awake. Still, just in case he had conked out early, Raihan unlocked his door, being as quiet as he could, and peered in.

To his surprise, the lights were out, but a faint stream of moonlight from the window trickled down to show the small form of Hop curled up under the covers, breathing hard and steady, no doubt asleep, and Raihan dipped back out, closing the door and locking it again. For the kid to already be asleep, what was he doing all day long to wear himself out like that? Probably trying to escape, Raihan had no doubt, but the image of Hop trying his hardest to break through the door was both hilarious and sad. Poor kid. With a heavy sigh, Raihan reached his bedroom, tearing his clothes off before taking a fast shower and yawning once he exited. His bed looked nice and inviting, but—

He frowned at it like it had just insulted him. Maybe it was from sleep deprivation, his annoyances from earlier that day, or just being in a piss poor mood in general, but Raihan had been away from Hop all day and _dammit_ —he didn’t want to be away from him anymore. It was probably just him being way too clingy, even though Raihan wasn’t the clingy sort, but when it came to Hop…

He just sighed, tearing out from his bedroom and back down the hall before he unlocked Hop’s door once again. The kid hadn’t moved a muscle, but as Raihan entered his room, being as silent as he could possibly be so as not to wake him, he stole a glance at his dresser to see torn wrappers and the remains of the bottles of soda he’d left him that morning, along with his glasses folded neatly up in the corner. He had to laugh a little. Hop was still a kid after all, and apparently he loved his junk food just like anybody else. At least he’d eaten though—that put Raihan’s mind at ease he hadn’t starved himself all day.

Approaching the bed, being as quiet as he could, Raihan peered over at him, noting how Hop’s jaw was slacked and from where he stood, could just make out the smallest sounds of his snoring and it made Raihan smile. Carefully, he placed his knee on the bed, crawling over toward Hop while trying not to rouse him from sleep. Raihan peeled back the covers, tucking himself underneath and curling up close to Hop as he did so, the kid never so much as stirring the entire time. So he really was a heavy sleeper, it seemed. That knowledge only compelled Raihan to reach over while he was on his side, brush back a few strands of Hop’s bangs from his forehead, and watch him as his chest rose and fell with each breath he took.

Raihan swallowed. Even in the darkness, the only light coming from the window, Raihan could see his long eyelashes casting shadows over his cheeks, and it made him look so beautiful as he slept. It wasn’t fair that Hop could do this to him, make him weak in his knees and cause his chest to tighten simply by staring at him like this. Hop had so much influence over him and he didn’t even _know_ it.

“Kid…” Raihan spoke to him, his voice so low that it was barely even a whisper, but he couldn’t help himself. If anything, he felt content with the knowledge Hop was so deep in sleep he’d never hear him. With his hands in Hop’s hair, brushing his bangs out of the way again, Raihan leaned into him to kiss his forehead, smiling when the feeling of Hop’s soft skin against his mouth sent a warmth down into the pit of his stomach. “I missed you.”

Just _how much_ he missed him though, Hop would probably never know. Maybe it would be better if he never knew how deep Raihan’s feelings for him went, and maybe it would be better if he never knew that Raihan had been pining after him for _years._ Because if Hop ever found out Raihan had lusted for him long before he was ever a teenager, he might just reject him completely. Not that he could blame him.

And Raihan wasn’t sure if he wanted to have that conversation with him. It would be better to take things slow for now, let the kid get adjusted to living with him, remind him he wasn’t out to hurt him or anything like that, and that life here was way better than anything he had before. Nobody appreciated him like Raihan after all, not even his stupid older brother who hadn’t even given Hop the courtesy to call him and make sure he made it to Wyndon the night before.

Raihan sighed, still running his fingers through Hop’s short hair. It was damp, like he had taken a shower not long before Raihan got home, and with the two of them being so close like this, he smelled so thick of shampoo that Raihan could drift off right then and there. He hadn’t felt this comfortable in a long time, and it almost made the entire day he spent waiting for this moment worth it.

With a small smile, a warmth in his chest, and the most wonderful feeling of peace washing over him that night, Raihan wrapped his arm around Hop, pulling him close to his chest before he finally drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Your support means the world to me ;-;


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHECK OUT THESE DRAWINGS DAV MADE OF THIS FIC ;O;
> 
> https://twitter.com/mobburei/status/1279311222769319937?s=20
> 
> thank you so much man they're beautiful ilu ;-;

The sun was just shy of setting around Hammerlocke the day that kid and his neighbor first showed up. They had taken on the first three gym leaders and passed with flying colors, so it was all Raihan could do to keep his excitement at bay. He knew Hop could do it, he believed in him from the beginning, after all. He liked to think that he had much more faith in him than his stupid older brother ever did, but that was Leon’s fault for making Hop feel like he wasn’t ready for the gym challenge yet. It didn’t matter if he won or lost, but Raihan had been around when he heard him talking to Hop about how difficult the challenge could be and how he probably wasn’t ready for it, yadda yadda.

Raihan had to scoff. Just because Leon was the champion didn’t mean he had to talk down to his little brother like that. Though, Hop probably didn’t think of it as being talked down to, as Raihan never remembered seeing that kid with anything but a smile on his face anytime he was around Leon. But still.

Would it kill the guy to believe in his brother a bit more?

That might have been the tipping point where Raihan took to following him around. Others might call it stalking, but Raihan liked to think of it as keeping an eye on him. Just in case. Hop could take care of himself, he knew that, but Raihan felt some solace in the fact simply being a distance away from the kid while he ran around doing this and that was a small form of moral support. Yeah. It was support. He believed in him, Raihan believed in that kid long before anyone else ever thought about doing.

Even now, hunkering down behind an apartment building not far from the Pokémon Center, Raihan watched as Hop and Gloria tended to their Pokémon, the pair exiting the building not long after, and even at a distance, Raihan could see the wide grin on Hop’s face, and he felt his chest flutter at the sight of it. How was it possible for someone to be so cute and full of life like this? The kid was too cute for his own good, but that was another reason Raihan wanted to follow him around. To make sure nobody took advantage of him. And yeah, while he knew Hop could take care of himself and didn’t need anyone there to babysit him, Raihan felt more content to imagine if anyone dared put their hands on Hop, he wouldn’t hesitate to jump out of hiding and pound their face in.

Maybe this was overkill, following after the kid just because he was worried about him and wanted to make sure he was safe, but Raihan was beginning to find that moments like these were the only things getting him through the day sometimes. Seeing Hop’s happy, grinning face, the way he and Gloria kidded around, laughed and played like children almost—things like that made a warmth pile down into Raihan’s chest, a bundle of excited nerves pooling into the bottom of his stomach soon after.

What…was this feeling?

He often told himself he should have been feeling this way when he looked at Leon, but lately that had all but come crumbling down. Raihan was convinced (or rather had convinced himself) that he was in love with Leon, that the champion himself was the object of his affections, he was the one Raihan wanted to wrap up in his arms, pull close, and kiss.

But, the longer he watched Hop from afar, the more his hands grew clammy, his chest tight, his stomach in knots, even his cheeks grew heated just from seeing the kid smile (even though it wasn’t aimed at him), Raihan was becoming more and more aware just how fucked he was. Surely, he didn’t have feelings for this kid.

Right…?

That would be weird if he did. Hop was fourteen for fuck’s sake, Raihan shouldn’t have been having feelings for a teenager—Leon and Raihan were about the same age, so he should have been crushing on him, right? After all, Leon and Hop bore a close resemblance, at least in their face. They had the same eye color, same eye shape, a lot of the same mannerisms, but there were still some personality differences. Leon was more prone to take things lightly, ride through life with his head in the clouds, while Hop tended to live more in the moment of things, taking life as it came at him with determination and a passion for his goals.

So, they might have looked similar, but they were two totally different people.

And Raihan definitely did not have feelings for Leon’s little brother. That was crazy, insane even. Who in their right mind developed feelings for their best friend’s little brother like that? Certainly not Raihan. No, even following him around like he often did, he was only doing so to ensure Hop’s safety. To make sure the kid got from city to city in one piece, no complications, no trouble (minus those Team Yell morons, but the kids both seemed to be faring just fine against them).

Raihan sighed to himself as he leaned against the side of the building, still hidden amongst the backdrop and the shadows, just enough he could still make out Hop and Gloria going on and on about something, but he still wasn’t quite close enough to make out just what they were saying. But he could see, even from his hiding spot, the way that kid looked at her.

It was the same exact way Raihan looked at Hop. Hop probably didn’t realize he was doing it, but Raihan could see it plain as day on his face—the way his eyes softened, sometimes his face got red if she got too close to him, and Raihan could tell in the way Hop carried himself, he was nervous. Anytime Gloria noticed and asked him, Hop would give her a huge smile, brush it off, but Raihan could read him like a damn book.

He liked her. That kid had a crush on Gloria, and it was so obvious, Raihan almost wanted to roll his eyes at how conspicuous he was being with his actions. Maybe Gloria even realized, but she never addressed it. Least not to Raihan’s knowledge.

It was almost funny…Raihan’s throat tightened as he swallowed. Funny how picking up on the fact that kid had a crush on that girl made a bitter taste appear in the back of his mouth. Why on earth was Raihan acting like this? He loved Leon. He knew he did.

…Right?

It wasn’t long the pair chatted about something before taking off down the street, just past the building Raihan was hiding behind. He sank himself even further into the shadows, keeping still and silent as the two teenagers passed by right in front of him, never once noticing him. He’d gotten quite good at following Hop around by this point, after all. He knew exactly how far away to stay, where to stay, how long to stay—and that kid was none the wiser.

Though, as they walked past, Raihan caught snippets of their conversation. Nothing important. Just talking about food they wanted to eat, and random stuff like that people were prone to discuss when they were with their friends. But, as they passed, Raihan’s gaze never left Hop, not for one second, and he could see even clearer now when he walked by Raihan, never noticing him, but yet so close that Raihan could have reached out, grabbed him, and pulled him behind the building, thereby literally plucking him off the street. Raihan could see that kid’s face as he and Gloria chatted.

That was the face of someone completely enamored by the person they were with.

And it drove Raihan fucking crazy. He didn’t know why. Surely it wasn’t because he was jealous—why the fuck would he be jealous who that kid had a crush on? Raihan was in love with Leon, so maybe this was just sympathy jealousy because he knew deep down that he couldn’t really be with Leon. Maybe Hop knew he probably never had a chance with Gloria in the first place.

Yeah…that had to be it. Raihan just related to him a little too much—he wasn’t jealous that Hop wasn’t looking at him that way. He wasn’t jealous that Hop wasn’t gazing into his eyes, blushing as he gave Raihan one of those bright smiles. He was _not. **Jealous**._

Eventually, the pair walked down the street and out of sight, not doubt aiming to head to the next gym before the sun set. Raihan sidled out from his hiding spot, hands dug into his hoodie, and contemplated following after them again. They were heading toward Stow-on-Side, probably aiming to take on Allister before the day was done, and really, the sun was already setting. Raihan should be getting back to the castle, taking care of things around the gym in the meantime, maybe even stopping to head toward the Vault and check out things there.

But.

Letting out an irritated huff that he was being so indecisive, Raihan instead strode down the sidewalk, keeping his distance as he followed after the pair. It wouldn’t hurt to make sure Hop arrived safely to the next town over, right? Raihan was just looking out for him. Just making sure he was safe.

There was nothing wrong with that.

* * *

Sunlight peered in through the nearby window, rousing Raihan from sleep. In his initial groggy state from being woken up, he was slapped in the face with the memory of weeks prior from when he’d follow Hop around like it was commonplace. He had gotten so used to tailing after the kid, that it was all he’d done in his free time. But now—

He opened his eyes, vision blurry for only a few seconds before he blinked it away to find Hop still lying next to him, having not moved much in his sleep, and Raihan’s arm was still wrapped around him. The kid snored lightly, mouth agape as he breathed slow and steady, and Raihan found himself smiling. Now he’d found something much more useful and gratifying to do with his free time. It wasn’t like Hammerlocke was a hotspot for gym challengers nowadays as people rarely ever made it to him. Raihan had more free time than he let on, but that was his business, nobody else’s.

He’d much rather spend any and all of his free time with Hop. Being with this kid gave him a feeling of peace he hadn’t felt in _years_ , and he wasted no time in drinking it up for all its worth.

It was probably pushing only nine in the morning, but Raihan couldn’t be quite sure. He’d left his Rotom phone in his room last night, and pretty much passed out the second his head hit the pillow once he’d gotten comfortable next to Hop. Sleeping next to this kid was one of the most comfortable things he’d done in a long time, and Raihan wanted to lie here as long as he could, as long as Hop was still asleep, and take advantage. It wasn’t like he was doing anything creepy, like fondling Hop in his sleep. He was just lying next to him was all. There wasn’t anything wrong with that.

Hop twitched in his sleep, making a small, muffled moan as he did so, and Raihan let out a laugh through his nose. It wasn’t fair this kid could be so beautiful while he slept, while Raihan got to see him with his guard down like this. He should know better than to expect Raihan to hold back when he was being so cute. But Hop was cute all the time, it didn’t matter what he was doing. Even when he was glaring up at him, trying to appear intimidating, swearing at Raihan like that might accomplish anything, he was too cute. Like a little Wooloo, Hop made him want to scoop him up in his arms and hold him as tight as he could.

Instead, Raihan lifted his arm from around him, reaching up to gently brush Hop’s bangs from his forehead. He’d given him a kiss last night, but Raihan wanted something more. He wanted Hop to be awake while he kissed his mouth, felt him quiver beneath him, saw that adorable blush on his face, because he was so shy about doing things like this with anyone—and it was so obvious Hop had never kissed anyone before. Hop probably never even hugged anyone other than his family, other than Leon.

Ugh.

Thinking about Leon made the smile on Raihan’s face drop and he scowled instead. For him to be so dead set on the fact he was in love with Leon, thinking about that guy sure could put him in a piss poor mood like _that_. Well maybe if he’d appreciated Hop the way he was supposed to, Raihan wouldn’t be so miffed about it. He knew having Hop here with him, where only Raihan could appreciate him, because Raihan was the only one who cared about him, was supposed to make Leon panic and run around frantically trying to find his brother—which would never happen. Leon might have been pretty, but the guy was as dumb as a bag of rocks sometimes. He’d never suspect Raihan had his brother with him, because Raihan made damn fucking sure never to show the slightest hints he was interested in his brother anytime the three of them hung out.

He had always given Hop the cold shoulder when Leon was involved, because it was easier to curb these intrusive thoughts with Leon right next to him for Raihan to project those feelings on instead. It was easier to lie about it to Leon’s face and ignore Hop in favor of Raihan telling himself he wasn’t a freak. Well—he definitely was a freak, but not in the sense he participated in the kidnapping of random teenagers, tying them up, and fucking them in his mattress. Raihan was a freak in the sheets in a much more traditional sense, but Hop was the first person to ever drive him to do something like this.

But, while Raihan often ignored Hop when the three of them were together, the moment Leon left the picture, he would pick right back where he left off, which in Raihan’s case, meant following Hop around from town to town, hiding in the backdrop just out of sight. For Hop’s own good.

Raihan sighed as he played with Hop’s hair, tousling the short locks between his fingers, even trailing his hands close to the edge of his ear to rub down to his earlobe, squeezing just gently enough it wouldn’t disturb him.

How had it come to this? How had Raihan lost sight of himself so much that he took this kid by force? Kidnapped him? Drugged him? Tied him up and fucked him so hard that Hop was in tears by the end of it. That wasn’t how Raihan wanted their first time to be. That wasn’t how he fantasized taking Hop to be like.

Because he had convinced himself in his desperation that once he did it, he would be over it. Hop would be old news, he’d toss him away, take him back to Wyndon where he might not remember their dalliance, and the kid could continue with life like nothing happened, while Raihan would always live with the memory of how he sounded when he came too hard, when he gasped from pleasure and bucked underneath him.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Raihan wasn’t supposed to lock him up. He wasn’t supposed to force Hop to cut off ties with his loved ones, to pluck him off the streets and place him in the castle away from people. Raihan didn’t want the kid to live like this. And yet—

Having Hop all to himself gave Raihan the most immense sense of satisfaction he had ever experienced. Simply having Hop here, lying in front of him, breathing steady as he snoozed away, Raihan tickling his ear and petting his hair, he felt guilty for doing this to him. He felt guilty for letting his lust steer his morals and do something awful. He knew the right thing to do would be to give the kid back. Let him leave the castle, run to Gloria and his brother where he’d tell them what a horrible bastard Raihan was, and let him try to build his life back up.

But.

He just didn’t want to. It wasn’t so much about Hop tattling on him, but Raihan knew the moment this kid got back to his old life, everyone around him would take advantage of him, his stupid older brother still wouldn’t appreciate him, and Hop would never understand that Raihan actually, genuinely cared for him.

So that’s why Hop was going nowhere. Even if Raihan had to take over responsibilities he was no where near ready for, like taking care of a teenaged boy, he would do it. He was prepared to do it, and while the thought scared him a little that he had no experience in taking care of someone like this, he was also excited at the prospect of Hop living here with him.

It could work. They could make it work. This didn’t have to be something horrible—if Hop realized how much better life would be here with Raihan than with people who didn’t love him, then he would grow to understand Raihan only had his best interests in mind. Raihan was the only one who cared about him, and he planned to take good care of him.

It was then that Hop began to stir and Raihan was jolted out of his thoughts. He’d been petting his hair and admiring his face for a good while now, but the moment Hop moved, mumbling as he came to, Raihan froze. Even these small little movements he did, which everyone did when they woke up, seemed so much more adorable whenever Hop did it. Shit, Raihan really was fucked if he was thinking things like this, but he couldn’t help it.

It wasn’t his fault that Hop made him insane.

Hop’s eyes fluttered, glazed from sleep as he blinked a few times to gain his bearings. Raihan could feel him stretch his legs under the covers, as they were right up against each other, and he let out a laugh through his nose, smiling at him when Hop’s focus trailed up to him, and he looked him in the eye.

“Mornin’, beautiful.”

It was like Raihan hit a switch. In an instant, Hop’s previous sleep-ridden eyes snapped wide open and he shot out of bed, almost tumbling over the edge had Raihan not grabbed hold of his arm to keep him steady.

“Whoa! Careful, babe, you don’t wanna hurt yourself, do you?”

“Don’t touch me!” Hop’s rather high-pitched voice surprised the hell out of him and Raihan let go more out of shock than obligation. Immediately, Hop tumbled over the edge, falling off the bed in a messy heap when he took the blanket down with him. The bed wasn’t that far off the floor, so he wasn’t going to seriously injure himself doing that, but Raihan couldn’t help but laugh as he leaned off the bed, peering over the edge to see Hop desperately trying to untangle himself from the blanket.

“You’re certainly spry this morning.”

Hop said nothing but stood to his feet once the blanket was out from around him, and he backed away near the dresser, staring at Raihan as though he were about to pounce on him. Now sitting up in bed, Raihan stretched his arms over his head, popping a few bones in his back as he did so and arched his brow at the kid who didn’t move, now frozen as he watched Raihan like any sudden movements would spell his death.

“What’s with that look? I didn’t touch you or anything, promise.” Though, that probably didn’t mean much to him. Raihan knew the kid had every right to mistrust him, and he couldn’t blame him, but he wished he’d stop staring like Raihan was going to snap and eat him. He didn’t have to be so heavily guarded around him. Though, as much as Raihan would have liked to touch him, he knew the best thing would be to keep his distance, at least until Hop got more comfortable around him. He was still in a new place, a new life for that matter, and this was a delicate matter Raihan knew he had to treat with kid gloves. 

Tossing his long legs over the edge of the bed, Raihan finally stood to his full height, noticing how Hop never once let his focus drop from him. Obviously, the kid would be suspicious of him after he had the audacity to climb into bed with him, but Raihan couldn’t help but smile at him as he stretched his arms over his head. He’d slept shirtless, only clad in a pair of boxers, and he noticed Hop’s stare lingering.

He couldn’t help himself. “Like what you see?”

Hop’s cheeks burned red, absolutely gushing with embarrassed heat, and Raihan had to laugh at him when Hop jerked his head away, now looking at a random part of the wall. Seemed Hop was way more shy than he let on.

“Aww, don’t be embarrassed, kiddo, I don’t mind if you wanna look at me.” To emphasize his point, Raihan flexed his muscles a bit, arching his back to pop a few more bones as he stretched here and there. Hop never once broke his stare from the nearby wall, but Raihan could see his cheeks reddening more and more. He was almost red down to his neck, and he was enjoying himself way more than he should have when he teased him like this.

Hop was too adorable. How could he possibly resist?

“I know I ain’t as buff as your brother, but I work out. Sometimes.” Though Raihan was mostly lanky himself, his muscles not as filled out quite like Leon’s were, he still had a lot to be proud of. His height accentuated most of the angular portions of his body, but if he exercised like Leon did, Raihan could probably give the champion a run for his money. Though, he wasn’t as crazy about it, finding himself mostly going for the junk food than the protein shakes, but it was whatever.

Even though he’d long since quit looking at him, even as Raihan continued flexing and stretching, enjoying the embarrassed look on Hop’s face that appeared to be the poor kid trying his hardest not to glance over at him, Raihan saw him stiffen, biting his lower lip as though on the verge of saying something, but holding back. Well, he wasn’t going to give into Raihan’s teasing it seemed, so with a final stretch, he popped his neck before letting out a soft sigh.

“Something on your mind?” Obviously, it was, as he saw Hop swallow before he fidgeted with his hands. He looked like there were way too many things on his mind and he was ready to burst.

Letting out another soft sigh, Raihan felt the edge of the bed hit the back of his legs and he sat back down, no longer towering over the kid like he was before. Maybe getting more down at his level would help him calm down around him, but it was all Raihan could do right now. “I ain’t gonna bite you. C’mon, spill the beans. What’s running through that noggin of yours?”

Probably way too much, but Raihan waited patiently as Hop continued fidgeting, and finally, after what felt like the longest agonizing silence of Raihan’s life, Hop finally turned toward him, though was adamant about avoiding eye contact.

He opened his mouth a few times, as though struggling for what to say, fidgeting more and more, and even from where he sat, Raihan could see his palms grow sweaty as he was no doubt nervous as hell, but he continued to wait for him. A little patience would go a long way if Raihan gave the kid some space.

“Wh…” Hop opened his mouth, a small sound coming out before he swallowed again, choking on his words for a moment. “What did…d-did anyone—I mean…” He bit his bottom lip, tossing his gaze from random spot to random spot until he eventually looked down at the carpet. “What did they say?”

Raihan blinked in confusion. Was he talking about the competition? That’s the only thing Raihan could think of, but he leaned back on the bed, making the mattress creak slightly as he did so. “I ain’t a mind reader, kid, gotta have more info than that.”

Swallowing loud enough for Raihan to hear, Hop let out an exasperated sigh, obviously frustrated he had to spell it out for him, but he complied. “The championship tournament. What happened when I didn’t show up?”

Ah—he was right. Hop wasn’t that hard to read, but he felt a small tinge of gratification having Hop comply with him like this, even if it was something simple as clarifying a statement. Raihan shrugged. “Not much, honestly. The show must go on, kid, they can’t cancel a whole tournament just because one person didn’t show up.” That was a bit cruel to say to him, Raihan knew, because he was basically saying Hop didn’t matter in this situation, but that was the last thing he’d ever tell that kid. It was the truth, but it was the truth only because other people didn’t appreciate him. Nobody bothered to give two shits that Hop wasn’t there—not even Leon.

All the more reason why Raihan felt Hop was neglected by everyone. Leon should have torn that stadium apart trying to find Hop. He should have had staff members looking for him, called the authorities or something—but he just shrugged and went along with Raihan, agreeing Hop might have gotten cold feet about making it as far as he did and bailed.

His anger threatened to boil, but Raihan bit it down. But seriously, fuck Leon. Who just brushed off their sibling’s disappearance like that? Especially when it came to something they had been working their ass off toward for so long? It rubbed him the wrong way on so many levels that Raihan felt the urge to hunt down that asshole and punch him in the damn face.

At the mention of the tournament continuing on like normal, Hop’s shoulders slumped, and he quit fidgeting as much. From where he sat, Raihan could see the life draining from him as that wasn’t the answer he was probably hoping for. Raihan knew Hop was probably expecting search parties and panicked people to be looking for him—but no.

Nobody cared about him.

Only Raihan did.

“…Oh,” was all Hop responded with.

Throwing his head back, Raihan let out a rather over the top sigh as he stretched his legs a bit, wishing Hop would look at him, but the kid had all but receded back in his shell, simply slumping against the dresser, not moving much. Raihan knew he was disappointed, and he hated seeing the kid shut down in one fell swoop like that, but he did the best he could to ease his worries.

“Don’t look so sad, Hop. I didn’t mean to disappoint you; I’m just telling you what happened. Anytime people don’t show up like that, things gotta run their course, you know?” And he bit his lip, because this was completely, one hundred percent his fault to begin with, but he tried not to give Hop yet another reason to think lowly of him right now. “Look, I’m sorry you missed your big match, but you’re much better off now. I have no doubt you woulda gone out there and wowed the crowd with your skills you worked so hard for but trust me—I’ll make sure things are much better for you here. You don’t need all them people, you especially don’t need your dumbass brother—” Oh fuck, that was his jealousy spilling out, and Raihan noticed all too late he’d run his mouth when he shouldn’t have been.

At the mention of his brother, Hop snapped up, pinching his brow when he finally looked Raihan in the eye, and glared at him. “Don’t _talk about Lee like that._ ”

The low rumble that was Hop’s voice then sent a shiver down Raihan’s spine, and for a split moment, he almost flinched back at the look the kid was giving him—absolute malice—but he recovered, frowning back at him when he leaned up enough to place his elbows on his knees.

Hop didn’t hear the way Leon talked about him. Hop had no idea how much of an afterthought he was to his older brother. And just thinking of the way Leon had the fucking _gall_ to blush whenever he talked about Hop—it was all Raihan could do to bite down the urge to up and hunt Leon down where he’d punch him in the stupid face.

“Leon didn’t give two fucks that you weren’t there. _Nobody_ gave two fucks, babe.” That was awful, such an awful thing to say to him, but it was the truth. As horrible as it was, it was the fucking truth. Hop’s glare intensified to the point Raihan could see him gritting his teeth, even balling his hands into fists, but he kept on. “Yeah, Leon noticed you didn’t show up, but the moment I told him you probably got cold feet, the guy shrugged it off like it was nothing. He didn’t give a damn, he didn’t even bother asking around to see if you got caught up in doing something. Just figured you got stage fright, let it go, and moved on with his life.”

“Shut up!” Hop took a step forward, clenching his fists until his hands were shaking, and for a split moment, Raihan thought he might actually take a swing at him, but Hop only shot him the nastiest look he’d ever seen the kid make before opening his mouth again. “You’re a fucking liar! Lee would never do anything like that! He knew how important that match was to me—he knew how important the gym challenge was for me, how badly I wanted to face off against him for the championship! He wouldn’t brush me off like that—you’re so full of shit, Raihan!”

He frowned, pulling his legs back into the bed before he stood up. Now that Hop had taken a step toward him, Raihan’s height was much more obvious as he towered over him, and yet, Hop never backed down. He glared up at Raihan just as much as he’d done before, not faltering in the slightest. Raihan had to hand it to him—kid had balls to stand up to him like this, knowing if Raihan wanted, if he _really_ wanted, he could just overpower him and be done with it. Hop had absolutely no chance again him, and he had to know that.

“Think I’m full of shit? You know how hard it was to stand there, feed your dumbass brother some bullshit lie about how you probably took off running, and _not_ punch him in the face? Face it, kid, he don’t give a damn about you. Not like how you think.” There was also the unspoken fact that Leon had given Raihan the impression his feelings for his brother ran a little deeper than simple familial attraction, but he put that in the furthest corner of his mind that he could possibly manage. It only pissed him off thinking how Leon had the nerve to brush off Hop like he was nothing, only for him to have feelings for him. Fuck that shit.

Hop still didn’t back down. “Yes, you’re full of shit. Why would I believe anything you say after—” But, whatever Hop was about to say, he suddenly clamped his mouth shut, and Raihan saw the shameful blush appear on his face.

He couldn’t help but grin, already knowing what Hop was about to say before he stopped himself. If teasing him was the only way for Raihan to quell his annoyances right now, then so be it. Hop was too easy. “After what? We fucked?”

The color drained of his face, yet Hop didn’t drop his glare for one second. But that tiny little twitch his eyes made was all the affirmation Raihan needed.

“How’s sleeping with you make me a liar?”

Hop bit his lip. “Don’t call it sleeping with me—”

“Oh, so you’d rather I say we fucked? We banged? I pounded that tight little ass of yours until you were moaning for me—”

“Shut the fuck up!” Now his face was absolutely gushing with heat, to the point Raihan was sure if he approached him, he would feel it wafting off him, and he crossed his arms, not able to help the smirk that twisted the corners of his mouth. It shouldn’t have been this fun to get Hop riled up like this, but Raihan was only being honest, after all. Hop was the one trying to deny facts here.

“Don’t be so shy about it, babe, sex is part of life, most people do it all the time. Hell, I bet Leon even gets his fair share of cock and pussy on the norm—whatever the hell the guy is into.” Come to think of it, Raihan wasn’t entirely sure what Leon’s sexual orientation was, as he’d seen him show interest in both, but it wasn’t like it mattered.

The more he went on, the redder Hop’s face became, until he eventually took that one step backward, now pushed up against the dresser, and tore his glare from Raihan to focus on the carpet once more. Even not looking at him, Raihan could still see the embarrassed shame written all over his face.

“Point being, we’ve already been intimate, I’ve already seen you naked.” Too bad Hop wasn’t allowed at the time to see Raihan, but he would worry about that later. Thinking of gazing into Hop’s eyes while he was fucked was making Raihan way too hot right now, and he didn’t want to come onto the kid so soon after what happened. Better to ease him into it and all that. Unless Hop gave him a reason not to. “If you’re going to be living with me from now on, why in the hell would I waste my time lying to you about shit that doesn’t matter?”

Hop tensed but didn’t answer.

Throwing back his head and letting out a sigh, Raihan took a step back from Hop, halfway turning toward the bedroom door. “Look, believe me or not, it doesn’t really matter honestly. I ain’t gonna sugarcoat anything just because you want to believe the best in your brother. Pissed me off too when he said that, believe me, but it’s the truth, kid. Believe whatever you want, if it makes you feel better. I don’t care.”

With that said, knowing Hop wouldn’t reply to him, Raihan turned heel, opened the bedroom door, and shut it behind him, locking it as he did so. Now alone in the hallway, he let out a huff of air, leaned his back against the door before he stared up at the ceiling.

This wasn’t going to be easy, he knew that. Raihan knew the moment he made the decision to keep Hop here with him, he was in for some heartache down the road, but he was prepared for that. Let Hop snap at him all he wanted, honestly it was fun seeing the kid so feisty like this first thing in the morning. Raihan couldn’t help but love that about him, even if he thought Raihan was a horrible bastard in all this, he didn’t care that much. If Hop wanted to think of him as the villain, so be it, but he hadn’t lied to him. He wasn’t going to feed him bullshit fairytales about how Leon was on his way to the castle with a sword in hand to break down the door and rescue Hop, because for one thing, Leon didn’t even know he was here, and another, even if he did, he’d just get lost on the way up.

Not able to help but smirk at the idea, Raihan pushed himself off from the door before he headed down to his bedroom. Throwing on a tank top and a pair of shorts, he decided now was as good a time as any to do his survey of the wing and make sure it was safe for Hop to wander around where he knew he couldn’t leave a certain point. Wasn’t fair to keep the kid cooped up in his bedroom all the time, and Raihan didn’t want that for him either.

Once he’d made his way past the living room, the kitchen, Hop’s bedroom, and the like, he was faced with the big metal door that opened up into a staircase. This door itself wasn’t really the thing he had to worry about. It could be locked from either side, but he left it unlocked for now as he made his way down the staircase. Once he was led into a pretty barren hallway, or entryway, depending on how you looked at it, there was a rather out of place, modern-looking door that was the exit for his living quarters. It had a special lock on it, a mechanism on both sides, with a small device on it used for swiping his keycard. If the card wasn’t swiped, the door wouldn’t open—wouldn’t even budge, no matter what. It was somewhat like hotels and a few apartments nowadays that required cards to enter. Though, even if the mechanism failed and rejected the card, the door wouldn’t open.

Glancing along the edges, Raihan searched for any signs that the door could be tampered with and forced open, but it seemed pretty solid here. No amount of jiggling the handle would work, as it would only unlock for the card. That gave him a little peace of mind, at least. Even if Hop managed to get down here and pound on the door for someone to help him, nobody ever, ever came up to this tower, and they were too far up for any cries for help to be heard by people on the ground floor.

Hop was, in every sense of the word, trapped in the tower with him. He’d only be leaving if Raihan said so—and that sure as fuck wasn’t going to happen.

With his security check of the entry door over, Raihan climbed the stairs again to check the rest of his ‘apartment’ (he wasn’t sure what else to call it). The two big doors leading in were the only entrances. The tower was basically one big room up here that branched off into his kitchen, bedroom, etcetera. There were no balconies or secret entrances that led to the roof. No trap doors Hop could hide himself in. And they were so far up, if Hop even dared try to leap out a window, he’d be killing himself. There’s no way he’d ever survive a fall from this high up, and Raihan grimaced a little at the passing thought of the kid getting so desperate to escape that he offed himself.

He cleared his throat, making his way back to his bedroom again before he fished around in his closet for Hop’s duffle bag. He still had the urge to break his phone, as from what he’d seen, that was Hop’s only means of communicating and if push came to shove, he knew the phone could be tracked even when powered off. But it wasn’t like they could track it to the castle, just Hammerlocke as a whole, and he had told Leon he’d seen him leave.

Clutching the phone in his hands, Raihan knew it would be better to get rid of it. Take it to the lake or something and throw it in. Nobody would ever find the damn thing at the bottom of the lake. There’d be no tracing it, no connecting him to Hop’s disappearance, or anything. Swallowing more out of nervousness than anything, Raihan put those thoughts in the back of his head for another time. Maybe next time he had to go out, he’d take a little detour and drop the phone in the river canal. Let the current sweep it away then. For now, he pulled out the duffle bag, being careful not to tip Hop’s things, before he stood up, reaching up as far as his long arms could go to reach a shelf in the corner. It probably was overkill, as the phone was the thing he had to worry about the most. Everything else in Hop’s bag was just random stuff, but it wouldn’t hurt to give this kid his things, especially the rest of his clothes and toiletries.

Placing the phone on the shelf above where the clothes were hanging, Raihan scooted it as far back as it could go, out of sight from anyone who didn’t realize the shelf was there in the first place. It wasn’t even a shelf, but more an alcove, one Raihan used to use for his headbands awhile back but had gotten lazy having to reach up every time he wanted one, that he cleared it out and it had gone unused ever since.

Once he’d stepped back, the phone was out of sight, so even if Hop went snooping around in his closet for it, he probably wouldn’t think to look up and notice the alcove. He’d have a hell of a time reaching it, even if he did. Probably wasn’t the best idea to hide something like that in plain sight, but it would do for now until Raihan went out next where he could throw it away. He should’ve done that before, but with everything happening, he hadn’t had the chance to think of a proper place to toss it.

There was still the matter of his own phone. If he let Hop have free reign, he’d have to keep his own phone glued to his body, but he had faith in the Rotom possessing it that if Hop made a grab for it, it would simply fly away from him. Still, didn’t hurt to be cautious.

With all of that out of the way, Raihan closed the closet, pulling the strap of the duffle bag over his shoulder before setting it down next to Hop’s door before he entered through the kitchen. He didn’t know how hungry Hop was, and while he wasn’t the best chef, he could at least scramble him some eggs and fry some bacon. Raihan was at least competent enough for that.

He set to work in the kitchen, frying them both up some eggs, bacon, even making some toast if Hop wanted it, before plating the food on a tray. All in all, he’d probably spent an hour doing his survey and cooking, but it was plenty of time for Hop to have his privacy and whatever else he wanted, so Raihan didn’t even knock before simply unlocking the door and letting himself in.

“Room service.” That was a bit of a poor joke, but Raihan tried his best to keep things light-hearted as he spied Hop sitting on the bed. He’d dressed in a t-shirt and his trousers from the day before, still sporting his glasses that Raihan couldn’t help but gush at when he saw them. They really suited him, and he didn’t know why he never knew Hop needed them in the first place.

“You should wear those more often. They’re cute.” Even as Hop lowered his head when Raihan walked through with the tray of food, setting it down on the dresser and passing Hop his plate, he never looked at him, but surprisingly, took the food despite that. Raihan was having less and less restraint for complimenting him, knowing before he was a bit unsure letting Hop know just how attracted he was to him, but the more often he saw him, the less of a shit he gave about trying to hide it from him.

Hop was hot. And Raihan wasn’t going to shy away from telling him how hot he was.

Still, while Hop never replied to him, though there wasn’t much conversation to be had by simply complimenting him, Raihan was pleasantly surprised to see him eat. He picked at his eggs for a bit, but it wasn’t long before he was raking up heaps of it and shoveling them down.

Honestly, Raihan figured he’d try to be stubborn and refuse to eat, but he was happy seeing Hop dig at his food, especially in front of him. It shouldn’t have given him a sense of ease, but he sure wasn’t about to complain.

The pair ate their breakfast in silence, which was awkward to say the least, but Raihan knew he was the last person Hop probably wanted to talk to right now. He really wished he could have given the kid his phone so he could text his friends and whatnot, but there was the obvious problem that he would tell them Raihan kidnapped him and was keeping him prisoner in the castle and—yeah. That wasn’t about to happen.

Still.

Raihan picked at his own eggs, stabbing a few with the fork as he leaned back against Hop’s dresser, being so tall that his butt rested against the surface. He didn’t want to make Hop uncomfortable and sit on the bed with him, but there wasn’t anywhere to sit in the room right now.

He huffed out a sigh through his nose, nibbling on his eggs. There were a lot of regrets Raihan had about the past few days, but mainly about how he had gone about this whole thing. Never in his life did he ever picture himself getting so desperate to get laid that he resorted to drugging and kidnapping someone, but Hop was different. He wasn’t like the paparazzi, the fans who wanted to sleep with their celebrity crush, the tabloids that wanted a problematic scoop on Raihan to sell articles. Hop was just an unassuming kid out on his journey, unaware he’d caught the eye of Raihan, unaware he’d taken to following him around, watching him from afar, battling with his own slew of emotions in the meantime.

The kid really had no idea what he was doing to Raihan.

He’d never felt this way about anyone before. Raihan had never developed feelings for someone quite like this. Sure, he was no stranger to childhood crushes, admiration for those around him, and lust for random strangers who wanted a quick lay—Raihan wasn’t sure what to do with himself. It was confusing in itself trying to convince himself he was in love with Leon all that time, to being hit with a reality smack that Leon was only a distraction from how he really felt.

And how he really felt—he swallowed his food as he looked up from his plate, eyeing Hop from where he stood leaned against his dresser—he didn’t even know how he really felt. All he could think was how happy it made him to have Hop here living with him, knowing he’d get to spend his days with this kid, get to wake up with him, sleep with him, eat with him—and nothing would make him happier than if Hop were to ever realize life here with him was better for him. Nothing would please Raihan more than to have Hop realize he had feelings for Raihan, maybe even confess his love one day, where he would admit he secretly harbored feelings for him this entire time.

Yeah. That was a long shot if there ever was one. Raihan knew Hop would never admit he liked him. The kid never even showed interest in him, but it absolutely _killed_ Raihan to be the one who felt like this, when he knew deep down his feelings for Hop ran so deep that maybe he had always known how this situation would wind up should he ever take the plunge and kidnap him.

Hop was in love with Gloria. He barely spent any time with Raihan, even when he, Leon, and Raihan had been younger children, Hop never really paid him much mind. So, the moment Raihan realized Hop had a crush on that girl, he knew that pretty much spelled his doom. Even if he confessed to Hop that he was attracted to him, that he wanted to fuck him, Hop wouldn’t go for it.

That’s why Raihan stooped so low. That’s why he did this.

He just knew Hop would never feel the same, and while that broke his heart a little to think, it also made him happy to have Hop here with him. Life here could be good, better even.

Raihan must have been smiling, because Hop looked up, now finished eating his breakfast, and pinched his brow at him. “What?” He snapped a bit when he asked that, but Raihan was just happy to hear him speak to him again. It didn’t matter what he was saying, really.

He shrugged, now noticing the smile curling up from his own mouth. Even when he was giving him a look like that, Hop was adorable. Too adorable. “Nothin’. Just daydreamin’.” That wasn’t a crime, right?

“Whatever.” As much as he enjoyed Hop being embarrassed whenever Raihan teased him too much, seeing him attempt this (rather poorly constructed if he was honest) front of not giving a shit was too funny to him. For this kid to be so spry, jumping away from him, shying away whenever he’d mention the fact they’d had sex, to snapping at him—these were sides of him Raihan wasn’t used to seeing, but he was more than happy to drink it all up. It really didn’t matter what Hop was doing or saying to him, even if he was angry, Raihan felt lucky to be witnessing these rather unpleasant sides of him, because it was like getting a front row seat to sides of Hop hidden from most people. Nobody else got to see him be like this.

Just Raihan.

As dumb as it sounded, Raihan felt like he had access to a backstage pass, that only he was special enough to see Hop reduced to this, and he loved every bit of it. Fuck, this kid really was going to make him go crazy. If Raihan wasn’t so concerned with easing him into this, he would have dropped his plate, crawled onto the bed, and fucked him again.

His chest fluttered at the thought of it, but he quickly bit it down. For him to be this insatiable around him, it was like he was high off him, but Raihan definitely wasn’t complaining. Let Hop bring him to his knees, let Hop drive him crazy, make him weak, make him vulnerable, Raihan didn’t care. He’d love it.

“You done eating?” Leaning away from the dresser, Raihan reached out, offering to take Hop’s plate from him. The entire thing had been practically licked clean, and he was so pleased to see the kid still had his appetite after everything he’d been through. He was a lot more resilient than Raihan gave him credit for.

Without answering him, Hop only gave him a fleeting glance before handing off his plate to him.

“Thanks. Don’t get comfy.” Raihan motioned his head toward the bedroom door. “Come with me. Got some things to show you.”

For a moment, he could see Hop tense, hesitating as he stole a glance toward the door, before back at Raihan, as though waiting for him to pull the rug out from under his feet and yell psych, but Raihan gave him a reassuring grin.

“Don’t be shy. Just want you to get acquainted with the place is all. I ain’t got the place boobytrapped or nothing. No monsters in the closets or anything like that—least not to my knowledge.” It was meant to spur Hop on, lighten the mood and ease his concerns, but Raihan shrugged at the look of disbelief he received. “Come on, up and at ‘em.” Without waiting for a reply, Raihan turned and exited through the door, hoping Hop would follow after him, but not really surprised when he didn’t move.

It was a little annoying, but he rolled his eyes when he reached the kitchen. Kid was probably still under the impression he was lying to him and something bad might happen if he left his room, but Raihan was nothing if not patient, so while he washed their dishes, moving about the kitchen to do this and that, even put on a pot of coffee, he stuck his head out the doorway and smiled when he spotted Hop emerging from his bedroom.

He looked so lost, like he was a child trying to sneak his way from bed when he knew he wasn’t supposed to do so, but he carried himself very carefully, his arms tucked in, shoulders bunched, and walking with calculated, tentative steps, as if he making the floorboards creek would make the floor open up underneath him. When Raihan poked his head into the hall, Hop stopped what he was doing—again, much like a child who was doing something they weren’t supposed to, he froze with his hand on the door handle, giving Raihan a look that suggested he was terrified as shit right now.

He was too cute, it wasn’t fair for Hop to be so cute without even _trying_. How the hell did he expect Raihan to hold back when he wanted nothing more than to hold him tight, pull him close, kiss him until Hop was delirious with the sensation of Raihan smothering his whole body?

Offering him a soft smile, as that was just about the only thing Raihan could do now, he waved him into the kitchen, and to his surprise, Hop followed, albeit much slower and with less enthusiasm than Raihan was exhuming.

“You probably already guessed, but this is the kitchen. Eat whatever you want, cook whatever you want, just clean up after yourself, ‘k?” He pointed to a few cabinets above the sink. “Got snacks up there, not much in the line of sweets, but I know you like that, so I’ll go buy some for you. Uhh…” He trailed over to the washer and dryer off in the corner. “Laundry stuff is there. Got plenty of soap, so if there’s something you wanna wash, go for it. You probably don’t have a lot to wear, right?” He turned back, noting how Hop was keeping his distance from him, but watching him carefully, like Raihan might up and pounce on him. Couldn’t exactly blame the kid for being so nervous around him, after all. Ugh, it was annoying, but it couldn’t be helped. Hop had every right to keep his distance, he knew that, but Raihan gave him a grin. “Tell me what size clothes you wear, I’ll go get you whatever you want. It’s gettin’ hotter and hotter, so you probably want shorts and stuff, yeah?”

No response, just a rather uncomfortable stare from Hop as he continued standing a good ways behind Raihan.

He kept on. “You don’t expect me to make you live here with like three pairs of clothes, do you? Nah. We gotta spoil you, kid.” Stretching his arms up, Raihan placed his palms behind his head as he approached Hop, causing the kid to take a few large, deliberate steps backward to keep the space between them, but he ignored it in favor of exiting the kitchen, continuing on with the tour.

A few steps down the hall, and he pointed off to another room, his living room. “Living room. Got a nice old telly, though you’ve probably seen bigger ones, I’m sure.” Glancing out of the corner of his eye to make sure Hop was still behind him, Raihan noticed the kid approach with reservation, following, but not really with purpose. Only tailing after him because Raihan said so. It wasn’t like the kid was actually interested in anything Raihan was saying, and even though he knew that, he did it anyway, if nothing else, to prove that things were okay. He hadn’t locked Hop up in a dank dark dungeon anywhere with chains hanging from the walls and prisoners yelling off to the side.

It was a normal ass apartment. Nothing spooky or scary, just something normal. They just happened to be in one of the towers of Hammerlocke, eons above anyone else down below them. So, normal, but also not really normal. Normal enough.

“Couch, bookshelf, have your pick of the litter, by all means. Most of it’s old mystery novels I used to read as a kid.” He turned to Hop then who still hovered behind him, that same uncomfortable expression on his face. “You like to read, kiddo?”

Hop tensed, Raihan watching as he fidgeted with the hem of his t-shirt. There was a long stretch of silence in which Raihan thought he wouldn’t answer, and was about to turn around and continue, but Hop opened his mouth, lowering his gaze before answering. “Y…yeah…”

“Good, maybe you’ll get more use out of them than I did. Let’s see…” Clicking his tongue, Raihan glanced around, not knowing what else to show Hop as his apartment was basically one hallway with all the necessities. Nothing big and glamorous, but everything he needed.

He turned to his bedroom, just across the hall. “Uh, my room is over there, but it ain’t got nothing your room doesn’t have.” Namely a bathroom and a bed, but he was hoping by brushing it off that Hop wouldn’t think to go snooping through his things. The only incriminating thing he had hidden in there was Hop’s phone, and he planned to toss that shit the moment he went out to town later.

With all that said and done, he turned back to Hop, stretching his back as he did so, still grinning at him. “Not that glamorous, I know, but it’s home.” And now it was Hop’s home too.

“Why…” Hop swallowed, shifting from one foot to the other as he fidgeted with the hem of his shirt again. “Why are you showing me all this…”

“Duh, so you’ll know where everything is.” Not like it was a big maze or anything. Hop could figure out that much, but Raihan mostly wanted to drill in the fact Hop didn’t need to hold back around here. This was just as much his home as it was Raihan’s now. He should be allowed to roam around freely, cook if he wanted, use the washer, read anything he wanted—all the like. Hop wasn’t a guest, he was—

Raihan swallowed to wet his throat.

What was he? Not a roommate, not a guest. Raihan didn’t know what to call him, but it wasn’t like it mattered.

Letting out a sigh, he stretched his arms before leaning back against the frame leading into the living room. “If you’re gonna be living with me from now on, it’s only fair to get you used to the place, right?”

Hop’s face shot up, giving him what Raihan could only describe as an incredulous stare. Apparently that fact still hadn’t sunken in yet, Raihan could tell. Hop was still hell-bent determined to leave, and Raihan wasn’t about to let that happen anytime soon. _No time_ soon. Never.

“What’s with that look?”

Hop answered instantly, squeezing his shirt now, not so much as blinking when he took a step back from Raihan. “I am _not_ staying here.” Another step backward, and even from where he stood, Raihan could tell the gears were moving in his head. Hop was about to run, but he wouldn’t get very far. Best to let him figure that one out on his own.

“Yeah hell you are too.”

“What the fuck makes you think I’m going to stay here willingly?”

Raihan shrugged, already sick of having this same conversation over and over. No matter how many times he told Hop he wasn’t going anywhere, the kid was stubborn as fuck—refused to listen to him. Apparently, he was a hands-on learner, so Raihan would just have to let him come to that conclusion by himself. He didn’t believe anything he said anyway, so what was the point?

“Look kid, you ain’t gotta do nothing around this place, okay? If you wanna stay cooped up in your room all day, be my guest. Just figured I’d show you around, let you know nothing is gonna bite you or anything.” He inhaled, trying not to let his annoyances show, but it was already too late for that. “I really could give less than two shits if you wanna sit in front of the television all day—whatever floats your boat.”

“I can’t believe you’re doing this.”

Raihan arched his brow, giving Hop an unamused stare, but leaned more of his weight back against the side of the wall. “Doing what? Trying to be a good host?”

And Hop glared at him, taking yet another step backward, putting even more distance between them. If he kept up, he was going to walk backwards down the whole hallway at this rate. “Quit acting stupid—you know what I mean.” Then his cheeks gushed red, something Raihan noticed all too well by this point. Hop sure did blush a lot, that was for sure, but it wasn’t like Raihan minded. It was adorable seeing Hop get embarrassed around him this much so often. Yet another reminder that only Raihan was allowed to see Hop as vulnerable as he was, only Raihan got to see him make these faces, do those little fidgeting motions with his hands, shift from one leg to another.

He was so used to seeing Hop be bubbly and excitable—this was almost like a new person in front of him, but Raihan didn’t care. He was finding that he loved this about him. He loved getting to bear witness to a side of Hop he doubted anybody else, even Leon, got to see.

From where Raihan stood slouched against the wall, he could see it in his body language—how flighty Hop was about to get, if his constant backpedaling down the hall was any indication. Raihan almost wanted to laugh and point to the exit for him, just to prove even if he ran away, there was nowhere to go.

Before he could open his mouth, before Raihan could reply to him, Hop suddenly turned tail and sprinted down the hall, around the corner and even from where Raihan stood, he could hear the door being yanked open, Hop’s footsteps disappearing down the stairs toward the entryway.

He sighed, pushed himself off the wall, and gave a stretch before strolling down the hall after him. Poor kid was only wearing himself out doing shit like that, but Raihan had to hand it to him—he was determined if nothing else. Yet another thing to love about him. Hop wasn’t just going to roll over and accept things as they came, not when in a situation like this, and as much as Raihan hated that things were the way that they were, as much as he wished Hop had come here of his own volition, as much as Raihan’s biggest fantasy was to have that kid crawling all over him, kissing him, begging Raihan to fuck him—that just wasn’t going to happen.

He knew that.

With a soft, resounding sigh (Raihan had been doing that a lot this morning, he noticed), he soon crossed the threshold where Hop had yanked the door open. While he climbed down the stairs, he could see Hop at the entrance, desperately yanking on the handle, and swearing in frustration when he couldn’t force it open. He kicked it, beat against it, and finally resorted to yelling for help when he found the door wasn’t going to give way so easily.

“You’re wasting your breath, babe.” Just as Raihan approached him, Hop whipped around, eyes wide with absolute terror, and it broke Raihan’s heart to see this poor kid so scared, but he knew he had every right to be acting like this. Who wouldn’t? Raihan couldn’t blame him.

“O-open the door.” His voice was breathless, like he’d just sprinted for several miles, and even his glasses were fogging up from the heat gushing from his face.

“Now why would I go and do a thing like that?” Raihan smirked. “Wouldn’t get to see your pretty face everyday.”

“Raihan, this is crazy! You’ve kept me here for two days—somebody’s going to realize I’m gone! They’re going to come looking for me—what the fuck do you intend to accomplish? Do you really think you can get away with holding me hostage here?!”

Raihan opened his mouth to respond but stopped himself. The kid had a point. What _did_ he intend to accomplish by keeping him here? He could tell himself all day long it was to ensure Hop was well-taken care of, safe, and with someone who appreciated him, but Raihan couldn’t help but feel it was also due to the fact he desperately wanted Hop to…

He swallowed.

To love him.

There was nothing he wanted more than for this kid in front of him to be looking up into his eyes with nothing but unabashed, unadulterated admiration, affection, _attraction_. Why did Hop have to look at him like Raihan was the absolute worst scum people didn’t even dispose of in their garbage because it was too filthy?

He had every right. He knew that. Hop had every single right to feel the way he did. To hate Raihan. To despise him. To be afraid of him.

But he just wanted Hop to know he truly, genuinely cared about him. Raihan wasn’t out to hurt him. He wasn’t out to take advantage of him. He’d done something awful by bringing him here using the method he did, tying the kid up and fucking him with the fantasy that he could simply return him to the real world afterward and be over and done with this silly crush of his.

Raihan gulped, his throat feeling tighter and tighter by the minute.

Doing that would have killed him, he knew. If he had been forced to give Hop back after he got to sleep with him, Raihan would have ended up doing something far worse than what he’d done. He might have hunted the kid down and taken him away, he might have hurt Leon to get him away from him, he might have hurt the kid’s other friends or family in an attempt to steal him away. Getting Hop alone for once when he did was why Raihan acted so rashly. The kid was never fucking alone. Never.

He saw his chance and took it. He’d told himself he’d give him back, but he didn’t want to. He’d never wanted to.

“I just…” For once, Raihan was speechless, not sure what to say to him. Hop was backed as far as he could go against the door, never once staring up at Raihan with anything other than fear in his eyes.

He didn’t want him to be scared. Especially not of him. He wanted Hop to be as comfortable as possible while he was living with him, and Raihan was willing to do anything to make that happen.

“Kid…” He sucked in air, forcing himself to break eye contact so he wouldn’t have to look at Hop’s face. It pained him so much to see such a look on his face. Just a constant reminder of what he’d done. “I don’t like this situation anymore than you do. I didn’t want to do this, believe me. I wanted—” He choked on his words. What did he want? He wanted Hop.

He just wanted to be with this kid. That’s all.

“I-I would have rather you came willingly, I do.”

“Why in the fuck would I ever do that?” Hop’s voice was low and steady, but Raihan could hear a definite sense of unease about it, even though he wasn’t looking at him. Hop was stiff, frozen against the door, breathing heavily through his nose and Raihan had no doubt that if he felt his chest, he would feel the rapid beat of his heart going crazy.

“Exactly. I knew you wouldn’t be on board.”

“So, your only other option was to drug me and cart me off?” Hop’s breath hitched then when he bucked back against the door, as though if he pressed himself as far as possible against it, he might phase through. “Does Lee know what a creep you are? Bet you keep this kind of stuff secret from him? Do you do this with every gym challenger that darkens your doorway, or am I just special?” There was a definite snark to his words, a biting sarcasm that Raihan couldn’t help but snort at, and he finally lifted his head, mouth curled into a half-smile.

Hop was frowning at him again, but Raihan preferred him being feisty like this. It wasn’t a bad thing at all, as it just showed how much life Hop had in him to act this way. It was adorable.

“Nah, you’re special.”

“ _Lucky me_.”

And Raihan couldn’t help but throw his head back and let out a loud laugh. For Hop to be giving him such a look, the kid had spunk in him, and holy fuck—he loved that. This was the absolute worst situation to be laughing in, but Raihan couldn’t help himself. If he didn’t laugh, he would go insane otherwise, and he knew Hop only thought he was probably more insane than normal, but Raihan didn’t care. The atmosphere in the entryway had grown grim, even with Raihan having laughed like he did, Hop didn’t dare move, didn’t drop his glare.

Before he could stop himself, Raihan had opened his mouth. “You’re hilarious, kid. Love that about you.”

Hop tensed but said nothing.

“No, I don’t go around plucking random kids off the street like I did with you. You’re the only exception. I ain’t got a basement full of people or anything like that. No secret traps, no monsters hiding anywhere.” He grinned, pointing back toward himself with his thumb. “Just you and me here, kiddo. Nobody else.”

“Why?” Hop furrowed his brow but didn’t move. “I don’t understand why you’re doing this. If you don’t want money—if you don’t want something from me, then _why me?_ ”

Raihan had held his tongue the previous morning. Hop had asked him a similar question, why he was doing this, why he had kidnapped him, and he felt embarrassed to admit his true feelings then, because he was still coming to terms with what was happening himself, but after all he’d been through, especially after seeing how Leon reacted (or rather didn’t react), to falling asleep next to Hop in what was one of the best nights of his life, Raihan was just too tired to bother denying it anymore. The longer he went without saying it, the more it was going to come back to bite him in the ass, until he wouldn’t be able to lie to himself any longer.

“Well…” Giving a nonchalant shrug, he smiled down at Hop through lidded eyes, his chest warm when he spoke. “I like you, kid. I like you a lot.”

Not a moment too soon, he watched as all the color drained from Hop’s face, along with his hardened expression, his shoulders drooping, and he flopped back against the door as though he were about to pass out. Raihan crossed the distance between them, catching him by the arm in case his knees gave out, and held him up.

That was…certainly not the reaction he expected, but Raihan didn’t really know _what_ he expected at the same time. Not that.

But the blush that extended all the way from Hop’s cheeks to his ears, his glasses fogging up yet again, and Raihan lost all his willpower then and there. Hop’s jaw was slacked in shock, eyes glazed with some expression he couldn’t identify, but Raihan lost control of himself.

It was Hop’s fault.

While the kid was all but pudding in his arms, he bent down, having to almost bend in half to reach him before he kissed him on the mouth. Like the time before when they’d kissed, Raihan expected the kid to flounder back, claw at him and pitch a fit as he shoved his chest to get him off, or something to that effect. Anything really.

But Hop didn’t move. Not one minuscule movement, not even a twitch as Raihan enjoyed the sensation of his mouth against his. Hop’s lips were soft, warm and moist, and Raihan even managed to shove his tongue into his mouth, licking up against his teeth, the corners of his lips, pulling out to drag his bottom lip up Hop’s jaw.

And even still, he never once moved. Never showed the slightest hint of emotion as Raihan invaded his mouth, wishing he would kiss back, but also enjoying how Hop was remaining still for him. Kid was probably in shock, not sure what to do with the information Raihan piled on him, and he had to be overwhelmed with everything happening, but Raihan was going to be as patient as possible until Hop came around. Until he got comfortable enough living with him.

He knew he spent way too long kissing him like he was, gripping hold of Hop’s arms which initially were to keep him propped up, but were now ensuring he didn’t try to push away from him, as Raihan leaned off only to pepper his cheeks with kisses, to push his face into the crook of his neck and kiss along down to his shoulder. Pressing his mouth against him, Raihan was mindful of his teeth as he sucked a spot there, enjoying way too much how soft Hop’s skin was. Damn, if he kept sitting here like this for him, Raihan might just screw the whole being gentle with him thing and just fuck him here in the entryway. It was tantalizing to say the least.

Just as he was contemplating undressing Hop and sucking his cock, Raihan’s euphoria came to a screeching halt when he pulled back from sucking his neck, aiming to give the kid a reassuring smile, but saw that Hop was staring straight ahead at nothing in particular, a thin line of tears stained against one of his cheeks.

Oh _fuck_.

Raihan drew away, gasping when he did so, not meaning to, but the sight of Hop still frozen against the door, having allowed him to kiss him as much as he was, while Raihan definitely enjoyed himself, it was obvious Hop had not.

“K-kid, holy shit, don’t cry.”

Finally, Hop moved, and that movement was only to tear his focus away from whatever was in front of him to look up at Raihan. He said nothing, he made no movement, but his lip quivered as though Hop were doing all that he could to avoid breaking down, and that horrible, awful feeling of guilt slammed down into Raihan’s stomach like someone had punched him.

He was scaring the kid to death. It was so obvious the way he’d shut down that he was in shock, and Raihan forgetting all that in favor of making out with him was enough to jolt him back to reality and realize—he couldn’t fucking do this. Hop may have been feisty, enough to argue with Raihan and swear at him like he had, but the kid was so fragile deep down. He was way more sensitive than Raihan realized, and it was only becoming apparent now _how_ fragile he was.

Raihan really was a bastard, he knew.

Even still, he reached up, lifting the frame of Hop’s glasses away enough to wipe the tear streak from his cheek, and Hop only averted his gaze when he did so, not moving, not saying anything.

For Hop to be this sensitive about things like this, about intimacy, about the prospect that someone had feelings for him, that Raihan admitted he liked him, for him to recede into himself like this, it made Raihan want to kick his own ass that he had taken this kid’s virginity the way he had. He had fucked him like he was nothing—he fucked him with no inhibitions, no remorse, no thought at all to how Hop would feel about it, because Raihan was only interested in his own gratification. He was so rough on him, he treated him so badly, that to see Hop for what he really was right now—a kid.

Raihan swallowed.

He really was just a kid. A scared, lonely, sensitive kid that Raihan so mercilessly plucked off the street to live out some fantasy with him. Reality was right here in front of his face, Hop’s reddened, tear-streaked face was the reality of what Raihan was doing to him, and it fucking killed him.

He swore before he would never make Hop cry ever again for as long as he lived, and yet, here he was, doing exactly that. Fucking it up and giving Hop more reason to hate him.

Raihan’s chest tightened to the point that it hurt. He just…

He just wanted Hop to love him.

He just wanted Hop to realize how crazy Raihan was about him, how he knew how to appreciate him more than anyone. After all, Raihan had been the one to notice Hop long before anyone else did. If not for Raihan, Hop would have nobody. He’d be _nothing_.

Pulling Hop by his arms as gently as he could, Raihan pulled him into his arms, having sank down to his knees to get level with him, and Hop was pulled against his chest as he wrapped both arms around him. He was so small up against him like this. Raihan could have probably wrapped both arms around him twice had he been able to, but he settled with reaching up to cup the back of his head, stroking through his short locks and rocking him back and forth, as though that would ease his worries, as though that would snap Hop out of shock.

“Don’t cry, baby. There’s nothing to be scared of, I promise you. I’m going to take good care of you, hear me? I ain’t gonna let nobody mess with you. I ain’t gonna let nobody bother you. This is your home and you gotta accept that, but it’s going to be okay.”

He wanted so badly to tell Hop that he loved him, but Raihan bit his lip. The words faded away on the tip of his tongue, and instead, he nuzzled his face into the crook of Hop’s neck, the kid letting out a soft gasp when he did, but he didn’t push away. Didn’t struggle. Didn’t say a word the whole time Raihan rocked him in his arms.

If this was what it took to reassure him, Raihan would hold him as long as possible, until Hop was convinced he would never hurt him, until he proved to Hop he was safe with him. Raihan would hold him all day if he had to, all night, forever and ever, if that’s what it took for Hop to believe him.

Raihan lifted his face from him and couldn’t help himself. With Hop wrapped in his arms like this, trembling just ever-so-slightly, breathing short, ragged breaths, Raihan kissed the top of his head before burying his face into his hair.

“Everything will be okay, kid. I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, thank you so much for your support, and for reading this fic. it means a lot to me! :D


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you guys so much for your continuous support with this fic. it makes me so happy! ;-; it's been really fun to write and i only hope you guys are enjoying it as much as i'm enjoying writing it!

Eventually, Raihan led Hop back upstairs, trying to coax him into settling down in the living room where he turned the television on for him, handing off the remote in case he wanted to watch something. Hop didn’t protest that entire time, didn’t so much as give Raihan a dirty look for daring to touch him, but Raihan was pleased nonetheless with Hop’s compliance. Maybe the kid was coming around, little by little. He’d take this as progress anyway.

With that done, Raihan stepped away from him for a while, tending to his own tasks and whatnot. It’d probably be a good idea to let Hop have his space for the time being, as Raihan didn’t want to rock the boat any more than was necessary. He knew he’d been clingy when it came to Hop, but dammit—sometimes Raihan couldn’t help himself. Setting eyes on him did little to quell his desires, but Raihan often felt the compulsion to scoop him up, plant kisses all over his face, and hold Hop in his arms for hours at a time. It didn’t help that his sexual lust was creeping, even when he held off after he’d made Hop cry, Raihan couldn’t deny how horny he still was.

Maybe he’d just have to deal with jacking off until he made his move, but it was getting harder and harder to hold back like he was. Had Hop not cried from before, Raihan surely would have been sucking his cock right about now.

Ugh. Thinking of things like that only made him hot and sweaty, and Raihan found himself in his room, trying to occupy his time doing something that didn’t revolve around Hop. He ended up gathering a pile of laundry together he could wash before hearing the little chirp of his Rotom phone. He’d been letting the Pokémon rest for the better part of the morning until the battery was full, but now his Rotom phone was flying around as he did his tasks, until he finally plucked it out of the air when he heard his text message tone go off.

Raihan’s throat tightened and a cold sweat formed on his neck. He didn’t even have to read the name to know the text was from Leon, but the message itself was what made him pause, drop his laundry, and clutch his phone as he swiped open to read the full text.

A slew of messages met him that he’d received all throughout the night and just that morning that he hadn’t gotten around to reading yet and every one made a bundle of nerves drop into his stomach.

 _‘Did you see the match_? _Gloria wiped the floor with me lol’_

_‘I know you aren’t coming to the after party, but sure isn’t as lively here when you’re gone, mate. Let me know when you’re free to hang out, I’m ready for some fun myself.’_

As he continued reading, Raihan’s hands began to shake.

 _‘Hey mat e just called me when u can ‘talk. Idk whe re hop is? Get in worried.’_ (This must have been when Leon got hammered at the party.)

But then, there was a much more recent text, one sent just now that caused Raihan to freeze in his tracks.

_‘Did Hop come back to Hammerlocke with you?’_

Every instinct in his body wanted to throw his phone out the window, erase his tracks—hell, take Hop with him somewhere and get the hell out of Galar, somewhere nobody would find them, but while his heart was racing, throat tightening up, Raihan tried his best to regain his composure. With his hands shaking, cold and clammy, that text didn’t necessarily mean Leon saw him _kidnap_ Hop. He doubted the guy would be asking him if he’d actually seen something, or somehow knew Hop was actually right across the hall.

His palms were so shaky and sweaty Raihan had to keep retyping his text several times before managing a coherent reply.

_‘No, y? Haven’t seen the kid since he won the badge from me mate.’_

That wasn’t suspicious at all, right? Raihan’s heart only continued pounding harder until it was making him nauseous, but he found himself seated at the foot of his bed, watching as the little icon indicating Leon was typing made his whole body grow numb. If Leon had seen him snatch Hop away, he wouldn’t have spoken to him the way he did at the tournament. He would have hunted down Raihan from the get go and beat the hell out of him probably. Raihan knew Leon rarely, _very rarely_ , had a violent streak when it came to his friends and family, but if he ever found out what Raihan had done, he knew he wouldn’t be spared.

But, Raihan made absolutely sure nobody had seen him sneak off with Hop. For all his efforts, all the lengths he went through to get that kid up here in the tower with him, he’d been so careful, despite how horny he was, Raihan was confident nobody saw anything.

His phone buzzed, and Raihan’s heart beat faster with the reply that came with it.

_‘Oh. Just asking. I still haven’t seen him and I’m getting pretty worried.’_

That shouldn’t have been as relieving as it was, but Raihan let out a long sigh, his whole body falling forward a bit as his nerves evened out a bit more. Holy shit—for a second there, he seriously thought Leon was onto him. Though, he would probably already be halfway in the ground now had he been.

_‘Sorry mate haven’t heard from or seen him. U call ur mum?’_

The reply was immediate.

 _‘Yeah, she said he didn’t come home. Gloria hasn’t seen him. He still won’t pick up his phone.’_ Raihan bit his bottom lip. That’s because Hop’s phone was tucked away in the top of his closet where he planned to dispose of it the next time he went out. _‘You really think he got cold feet?’_

Raihan should have felt guilty he was saying this, and he did, but he also knew it was necessary to get Leon off his back. _‘Maybe he’s too embarrassed to face u for not showing up.’_

_‘I know Hop can be a bit sensitive when it comes to things like this, but he wouldn’t ignore me for this long, Rai.’_

Again, Raihan’s heart began to pound with nerves, but he quelled his anxiety through sheer willpower. _‘Didn’t u tell me before that he avoided u for a while because he was embarrassed or something over losing a battle?’_

_‘Yeah, but that was so long ago. I thought he’d be past that by now. Maybe I’m overreacting, I’m just worried about him. What if he’s in danger?’_

_‘He can take care of himself champ.’_ Ugh, _that_ certainly made a bitter taste appear in the back of Raihan’s throat.

_‘I know he’s got his Pokémon with him and I’m probably mothering him too much, it’s just unlike him to go this long without texting me or at least pick up his phone when I call him.’_

Raihan’s hand clutched his Rotom phone harder, causing the Pokémon to chirp when his grip was too harsh. Where was this worry and concern yesterday, then? Why didn’t Leon jump and go around trying to find his brother? He had the nerve to brush him off, knowing how important that match was to him, and was choosing _now_ to worry about him when it was all said and done? He should have been causing a scene, getting the authorities involved, letting it be known Hop would never, _ever_ miss his big match like that.

Instead, he shrugged it off and went along with it.

It took every ounce of Raihan’s willpower not to send him back a message that simply read _‘Fuck you.’_

Instead, he sucked in a breath, closed his eyes, counted to ten, and exhaled as he tried to calm himself. Leon didn’t deserve Hop as his little brother if he was going to treat him like this. Poor Hop deserved so much better than this trash bag for a big brother.

_‘I’ll keep an eye out for him champ. I’ll call u the second I know something.’_

_‘Ok, thanks, mate.’_

For far too long, Raihan sat there eyeing his phone, waiting to be sure there were no more texts from Leon, but it never happened. After about five minutes staring at his blank screen, Raihan finally stood from bed, letting Rotom fly above his shoulder as he stretched and popped his back a few times. The Pokémon chirped as it hovered around him and Raihan finally turned toward it, giving it a smile. “Don’t let the kid get ahold of you, now. Don’t want him making unsolicited calls and whatnot, yeah?”

Rotom did a few dips and flips in the air as Raihan spoke, finally flying over toward his nightstand where it set itself down. Surely the kid wouldn’t go snooping in his room, but Raihan was confident his Rotom would fly away from him if he tried to get a hold of it. He could trust his own Pokémon, after all. With that all said and done, Raihan strode from his room after picking his laundry back up, eyeing the living room as he passed by to see the kid hadn’t moved from his spot on the couch. From the looks of things, it appeared he hadn’t so much as changed the channel, and even though his back was toward him from where the couch was, Raihan could see him picking at the hem of his shirt.

He stuck his head in, not able to stop himself. “The telly ain’t gonna bite you, kid.”

It was only a moment Hop jumped before turning to face him, as though he’d forgotten where he was, but the moment he laid eyes on Raihan, he pinched his brow at him, giving him a frown. Raihan had to snort. For that kid to be reduced to the crying mess he was down in the entryway, right back to glaring at him like this, Raihan didn’t know why seeing him so feisty made a warm feeling pour into his chest. He just loved it.

He _loved Hop._ He loved how determined he was, how even after all that had happened, he was doing all he could to make out like Raihan wasn’t getting to him, even though it was painfully obvious that he was. Poor Hop just didn’t realize it yet.

With the kid glaring at him like that, Raihan simply shrugged before readjusting the laundry in his arms as he gave him a grin. “Surprised you haven’t been watching—” Then he bit his lip. He was about to say he was surprised Hop hadn’t watched the news to find out who won the championship, but Raihan knew that was a touchy subject for him and quickly shut himself up. Hop would only get upset if he brought that up, so he sucked in a breath instead as he fumbled to think of something else. “…watching, um—c-cartoons, yeah. Do kids your age still like cartoons?” It was more a rhetorical question, so he wasn’t surprised Hop only glared at him in favor of answering.

Ugh, did he _have_ to look so cute when he frowned at Raihan like that? The more Hop glared at him, the more Raihan smiled back.

The kid really should watch himself, otherwise Raihan wasn’t going to be able to hold back on him if he kept doing stuff like that.

“Anyway, point being, you’re allowed to change the channel, kid. Not gonna sneak up behind you and yank you off the couch if you do.” With a final smile to Hop who continued to glare right back at him, Raihan gave him a wink before continuing down the hall toward his kitchen to toss a load in the wash. Seemed Hop was still in a sour mood, and as much as Raihan wanted to tease him for it, because the kid was way too much fun to tease, he held back.

He’d only make him mad doing that, and while Raihan knew it’d be fun to push his buttons, get him steamed and flustered, he was also trying to give the kid his space and let him breathe for a while to properly take in this entire situation. It wasn’t just Hop who had a lot to think about. Raihan was pretty lost on what exactly he ought to be doing when it came to taking care of someone, as he’d only ever been responsible for himself and, well…

His fridge was mainly full of beer or liquor, he had the basic necessities when it came to food (bread, milk, eggs), but other than that, he only had microwaveable canned food or ramen stuffed in his cabinets. Raihan wasn’t a chef by any means, but with Hop here, he was going to have to do that kid way better than macaroni and cheese. He was going to have to learn how to take care of someone, someone much younger than himself, and it felt weird to think of himself as Hop’s new caretaker. Guardian? Whatever he was now, he was responsible for this kid’s well-being, and it was going to take a lot of work.

Raihan was used to going out, partying with Leon, getting drunk off his ass, coming home to smoke a cigarette or pass out in his bed without even taking his clothes off, and that kind of life was going to have to be put on hold for Hop. It wasn’t a bad thing, as Raihan knew he didn’t lead the healthiest lifestyle, but—he sucked in a breath. He’d do anything if it meant Hop was taken care of. That’s the least he could offer that poor kid in such a shitty situation.

As he exited the kitchen, not really sure where to wander off to now that Hop was in the living room and Raihan wanted to give him space, he leaned against the door frame, sighing as he did so.

Why did things have to be this way? Why couldn’t Hop have come willingly? Why did Hop have to go chasing after his neighbor, even getting a crush on her, when Raihan had been there from the beginning? When he’d been the one to come home with Leon from time to time, eyeing Hop from the start, but only obsessing as the years went on, because to Raihan, Hop was always something never meant to be looked at by him. Never meant to be touched by him. He wasn’t for Raihan.

It wasn’t fair. Raihan had loved him way before even Hop’s own stupid brother realized he existed. Though he didn’t live with them, Raihan had no idea what their home life was like, he just never expected Hop to catch his eye, and stay on his mind for so long. Weren’t crushes like that supposed to disappear after a month or two?

It’d been _years._ Why the hell was Raihan still acting like this? He was supposed to grow out of this, Hop was supposed to be the furthest thing Raihan ever thought about when he was supposed to be doing other things.

But he wasn’t.

Raihan followed him around, because he couldn’t get enough of him. Raihan waited until that kid came to him, battled him for his badge, and when he saw he was finally alone, Raihan took his chance, drugging him, kidnapping him, and now locking him up in the tower where Hop wasn’t allowed to leave. That was something fucking crazy people did, but it wasn’t like Raihan was an axe-wielding murderer. He didn’t drag Hop here to hurt him, or worse yet—kill the poor kid. Raihan wasn’t some sick fuck who went around offing kids as they came. He just—

He sighed.

He just didn’t know how to express to Hop how he felt about him. It was crazy, this whole thing was crazy. Seeing Hop cry down in the entryway weighed on his mind, because—Raihan swallowed—Hop wasn’t _supposed_ to react like that. Raihan confessed…sort of. At least, he’d made his feelings known, he tried to confess to the best of his abilities, and Hop knew that he was attracted to him at least, but he cried. Hop stood there frozen in shock while Raihan kissed him after admitting he liked him, and Hop cried about it.

It kind of…hurt a little, if Raihan was being honest. He knew things were hard on the kid, and he absolutely could not blame him for acting that way, but he couldn’t deny it broke his heart a little to see the kid so upset when he’d only tried to show him that Raihan actually cared about him. He wasn’t out to hurt him, he wasn’t out to take advantage of him, to hold him for ransom, or anything like that.

Raihan just wanted Hop to know he loved him, and seeing the kid break down crying like that only hammered in the fact that Raihan wasn’t going to get very far trying to convince him with his words alone. As much as it pained him, he was going to have to let Hop realize that fact himself.

And Raihan was impatient.

He had been holding off on Hop this entire time, and the kid probably didn’t even realize how hard it was for Raihan to control his urges, his urges which involved fantasies of holding Hop down, grabbing his face, kissing him, yanking his trousers off until he was exposed below him where Raihan could suck his cock—he sucked in a breath, leaning off the door frame. Thoughts like that were running rampant and Raihan knew he was only working himself up like this, constantly thinking of having sex with Hop again, but he seriously didn’t know if he could handle going for very long if push came to shove.

He supposed he could be…nice about it? How were you supposed to politely ask the person you just kidnapped if you could have sex with them? Raihan already saw the terror in that kid’s eyes, knowing the exact face he would pull the minute he brought that up to him, and he wasn’t about that shit. He knew he’d done some lofty things in getting Hop here with him, but he wasn’t interested in holding him down until he was crying and hurting. Raihan wanted him to enjoy himself. He _wanted_ Hop to have fun, or as much fun as he could in this situation. Even if he teased him, Raihan never intended to hurt the kid, not even after he’d drugged and kidnapped him. Raihan was never interested in hurting him. Maybe having a bit of fun with him, but having the kid cry like that the first time he fucked him weighed on his mind, and he’d already told himself before the next time he got intimate with him, he would take his time and ease Hop into it. He wouldn’t be that rough again.

And Raihan wanted Hop to _love it._ He wanted Hop to stare into his eyes while he thrusted inside of him, while he rocked him back and forth on the bed—Raihan wanted that kid to stare up at him through those beautiful eyes, those long eyelashes, and smile, touch his face, tell him how much he was enjoying himself, how good Raihan was to him, and how much he knew Raihan cared about him. Raihan wanted Hop to realize he loved him long before anyone else did. Before anyone ever noticed him.

Raihan had been there. Raihan appreciated Hop. Raihan took notice of him, watched after him from afar, made sure the kid was kept safe, even if he didn’t realize he’d ever been there from the start, Raihan made sure nobody messed with him.

And _holy shit_ , did he want to fuck him again.

It was agonizing, forcing himself to wait, even though Raihan told himself if he gave Hop his space, it would be worth it in the end, his desires were coming to a boil, and if he sat around waiting for Hop to get comfortable with him, he might just go insane. He might snap and do something terrible to him, he might resort to holding that kid down until he was kicking and screaming, and that was the last thing Raihan ever wanted to do to him.

He sighed, rubbing at his head when a headache was forming.

Raihan just wanted Hop to love him. Holding the kid hostage was sure to put him on the shit list, but Raihan wasn’t sure any other way to convince him that everything was going to be okay. He was much better off, Hop would be much happier here with him than out there with people who didn’t love him properly. And it wasn’t like Raihan wanted to hold him captive in the tower like this. He’d much rather Hop came willingly, came to him with open arms, but—

That just wasn’t going to happen. Not anymore.

* * *

It was well into the afternoon, almost early evening by the time Raihan made an attempt to speak to Hop again. All day long, he’d been eyeing him from afar, giving him space as needed, even though Raihan was clingy and he wanted nothing more than to hold and kiss him, he held off. Only once did Hop really give him any indication he was semi-comfortable by saying he wanted food, though it was only because Raihan asked him after hearing his stomach growl, and as though out of embarrassment more than anything, Hop complied.

Other than that, the kid had been glued to the living room, plopped on the couch, but he actually took incentive and picked up the remote. The few times Raihan walked by, he could hear him flipping channels, and could have sworn he heard the news talking about the tournament, but he wasn’t sure if Hop had bothered to listen to it, not sure if he was that upset or not. Raihan wondered if he at least heard the news that his brother was dethroned and Gloria was the new champion, but even bringing up that fact seemed insensitive, so he held back.

With the sun dipping outside, Hammerlocke cast in an orange glow that stained the walls of his apartment, Raihan risked dragging his ass into the living room to sit on the couch next to Hop. It was agony trying to keep himself busy all day and even scrolling on his phone for hours on end had become torture, because all Raihan really wanted to do was be with Hop. Nobody was calling or texting him, everyone still wound up in the excitement of the championship, so his social medias were abound with Leon this and Gloria that. Nothing Raihan was particularly interested in, though he was a bit surprised by Leon’s loss. A passing thought made him think how Leon might not have lost if it weren’t for Hop missing, but he quickly shook things like that from his head in favor of finding himself in the living room. Hop’s back was facing him, as it always was with the way his couch was set up, but he knew the kid could hear him when he entered. It was very small, almost insignificant, but Raihan could see his shoulders bunch up anytime he heard Raihan’s footsteps come close or pass by.

The kid was on edge, even if he didn’t turn around to look at him directly, Raihan knew he was still on his toes, and was probably only staying on the couch in some weird act of defiance, but he was about to put an end to that. Knowing he was probably fucking up by invading Hop’s personal space when this whole time he’d spent away from him was supposed to be about Hop getting comfortable, Raihan gripped the back of the couch before swinging himself over to the front, until he was right next to Hop.

The kid wasted no time in shrinking underneath him, even pulling his legs up from the floor until he was curled into a ball. It was just him putting up his defenses, Raihan knew that, but he smiled down at him, nonetheless.

“This seat taken?” A rhetorical question and while Raihan didn’t expect a reply, he still had to stifle a laugh at Hop’s face. If his face alone could speak, it would be telling Raihan to _eat shit and die_. He’d never seen Hop so aggressive before, if that’s what this could even be called, but even this was adorable as all hell. Hop really did not have the face nor body of an intimidating person, but to see him give Raihan such a hateful look was one of the least threatening things he’d ever seen, and he couldn’t help but laugh at it.

Yes, he was being cruel, he knew that, but Hop was too cute for him not to laugh at sometimes. No harm done, right?

With no response given, no response expected, Raihan allowed the back of his knees to hit the couch before he sank down, his weight against the cushion causing Hop to rise up slightly enough that he noticed from the other end. If the kid wasn’t on the defense before, he most certainly was now. Raihan was surprised he didn’t jump straight out of his seat, but Hop only curled into himself even more, hugging his legs and squeezing himself into a tight ball.

Raihan tried his absolute best to keep things normal. “You want pizza tonight? I can order one if you want.”

No response. Just that wide-eyed, suspicious stare.

Raihan tilted his head to the side as he eyed him back. “You don’t like pizza? What about curry? I know it’s not as great as it is in Wyndon, but we’ve got a fast food place right around the corner that sells curry and stuff like that.”

For a moment, it looked like Hop was about to open his mouth, but he quickly stopped himself before biting his bottom lip, the only sound in the room then being the muffled droning from the television across the way.

Raihan perked up but tried his best to lean back against the sofa. Maybe if he showed a bit of vulnerability in front of the kid, he’d see he wasn’t some big, scary monster or whatever the kid was possibly thinking of him now. Raihan stretched his legs, leaning into the corner of the sofa, just far enough away from Hop that he couldn’t reach out and grab him unless he lifted himself from the couch a bit.

Still, Hop didn’t move, only continued holding himself into a ball like he was, staring at Raihan like he might snap and eat him if Hop dared look away.

Raihan sighed. This was tough on him, he knew, but he wasn’t sure what else he could do to ease Hop’s worries. “Kid, I told you before I ain’t gonna hurt you or nothin’. I ain’t planning to spike your food or do anything like that.” Though, that was a bit of a hypocritical thing to say since Raihan had—well—already fucking done that to him once before. “I just wanna know if you want pizza for dinner is all.”

Finally, Hop moved, and even then, it was only a small movement, one that involved him slowly allowing one of his legs to extend from the ball he’d had himself in where he planted it on the floor. He stared up at Raihan as though expecting him to reprimand him for it, but Raihan only stared back at him curiously. Hop was acting like a cornered animal, and Raihan knew he had every right, but he continued slouching against the couch, legs spread, completely relaxed in front of him. Maybe that was being counterproductive, but he didn’t know.

After what felt like hours of silence, Hop opened his mouth to speak, his voice hushed as though he didn’t want anyone else clued into their conversation. “Why…why are you doing this?”

Raihan stretched his legs a bit as he placed his hands behind his head, bouncing one knee up as he shrugged over at Hop. “Doing what? Asking if you want pizza?”

“No, this—” Hop huffed, seeming frustrated, but still hugging onto one of his knees he had raised to his chin. His other leg dangled off the edge of the couch, and Raihan could tell from his stance the moment he sensed danger, he was going to run. Hop wasn’t hard to read, if he was even trying to hide anything, he certainly wasn’t that good at hiding it from Raihan. “This…this whole thing. Why are you doing this?”

“So, you don’t like pizza?”

“Shut the fuck up about pizza!” Now Hop was straight up glaring at him, having dangled both legs over the edge of the couch, and he was slowly easing off of it little by little. “I don’t have time for this bullshit!”

Raihan slouched, if possible, even further down the couch, grinning at Hop the whole time. The kid really was way too easy to rile up like this, and he knew he was only making him mad, but he didn’t really care. Hop was adorable when he was mad like this. It was like watching a Wooloo try and appear ferocious—it just wasn’t happening.

“Okay, sorry, I’ll stop talking about pizza.” Raihan sighed, leaning his head back as he kept grinning over at Hop. The kid never once dropped his glare. “But I need more clarification than that.” Though Raihan knew _exactly_ what he was talking about, he wanted Hop to be the one to say it. Raihan was being an absolute prick to the kid and he knew it.

Hop lowered his glare, his glasses sinking just slightly down his nose enough where he had to push them back up and Raihan could see the blush through his exasperation. Poor kid was already so riled up, he was even breathing heavier, but Raihan sat there, allowing him time to have his say.

Finally, “Don’t you realize how fucked up this is?”

“Hmm?” Raihan leaned his head back off the couch, bouncing his knee faster. “How fucked up what is?”

Hop glared back over at him. “Quit playing stupid, Raihan.” **_Oooh_** _—he fucking loved it_ when he said his name like that. Raihan had to resist the urge to suck in a breath when he definitely felt his cock twitch. How was it possible for someone to get him off just by saying his name? Hop really was incredible. So lost was Raihan in his momentary euphoria, he almost didn’t hear the rest of Hop’s sentence. “You know people are going to come looking for me. What are you going to do when they start breaking down that door?”

Ah—Raihan couldn’t help but snort through his nose. If he had his pack of cigarettes, he sure as fuck would be smoking one right about now. That wasn’t exactly something he wanted to be thinking about, as much of a stretch as it was. “Quite an imagination you have there. What makes you think anyone’s gonna come barreling through that door anytime soon?”

Another glare. “I have friends and family. They’re going to realize I’m missing, if they haven’t already.”

At that, Raihan rolled his eyes, not able to help himself. “Right. Silly me, I forgot all about them. Kind of hard to focus on your so-called friends and family when none of them ever gave a damn about you—”

“Shut up!” With his feet firmly planted on the floor, Hop stood up from the couch, standing only a bit taller than Raihan while he was still seated, but taking deliberate steps backward each time he spoke, as though wanting to keep the distance between them as wide as possible. “Just because you’re _Lee’s_ friend doesn’t mean you know anything about _my_ friends. What the fuck is wrong with you anyway? Is this how you spend your downtime? You kidnap random people off the street—is that how you get your kicks? I don’t understand what you want from me.”

Letting out a long, drawn out sigh, Raihan leaned his head back against the couch again. Here they went, the same conversation over and over. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes as he leaned back, knowing Hop had to see, but he couldn’t help it anymore. “Kid. Babe. _Baby_. We’ve already talked about this, so what’s it gonna take for me to convince you this isn’t some game I’m playing and I’m completely serious about this?”

“Let me go.”

Raihan lifted his head, his creeping headache only spurred on by what he could only assume was an argument about to break out. But, even then, Raihan couldn’t help the grin that lifted the corner of his mouth. “Keep dreaming, kid. See how far that gets you.”

Hop crossed his arms, frowning at him. “ _You_ fucking asked.”

True. Hop had him there. “Okay, lemme put it this way—what’s it gonna take for me to convince you I’m serious, that doesn’t involve letting you leave? Anything I can do there?”

For a moment, it looked like Hop was actually contemplating something, but whatever it was, he quickly unraveled his arms before clenching both hands into fists and looking down toward the ground. Nothing, huh? Raihan tried not to laugh. If Hop was trying to haggle with him, he was doing a horrible job at it.

Raihan just sighed, lifting one of his hands away from the back of his head to instead prop his chin up with his palm. “What’s so bad about living with me, anyway? You got your own room. I know it ain’t fully furnished and nothing fancy right now, but I plan to go buy you clothes and stuff. I’ll get you whatever you want, baby. You name it, I’ll buy it.”

Clenching his fists so tight, Raihan could see the color drained of them, Hop grit his teeth as he glared over at him, taking another step back. “I don’t _want_ anything from you, asshole. I just want _to leave_.”

With another sigh, Raihan finally leaned forward on the couch, this time planting his feet firmly on the ground until he was hunched over, supporting his elbows with his knees as he looked up at Hop through arched eyebrows. “No matter how many times you bring that up, it ain’t happening, kid.”

“This is insane—you’ve _got_ to realize that, right? How insane this is?” Now that he was backed almost against the wall, Hop was shrinking into himself more and more, as if sensing how closed off he really was, how there really wasn’t anywhere for him to run should he choose to do so. “What the fuck makes you think I’m going to stay here with you—w-what the fuck makes you think Lee won’t come pounding through that door any damn minute?”

At the mention of Leon, Raihan stood up, causing Hop to jump back, the kid now almost completely flattened against the wall, but Raihan didn’t make any moves toward him. He only frowned. “Because your brother is a fucking idiot. Remember how you weren’t even at the tournament, _babe_?” And he hadn’t meant to say that with so much poison seeping through his tone, but dammit, Hop didn’t even realize how Leon just brushed him off, how Leon was all too ready to continue with the tournament despite Hop’s absence. And Raihan sure as fuck wasn’t about to tell him his brother texted him that morning asking about where he was. No damn way. “You’re just an afterthought to him. You’re not as important to him as you think.”

“Fuck you!” Hop bared his teeth at him, still flattened to the wall, but giving Raihan a look full of so much animosity, he swore he saw fire spark in his eyes then. “Don’t talk about Lee like that!”

“I’ve known that guy far longer than you have, Hop.” Raihan took a step closer, towering over Hop the closer he approached, the more he drew in, quite literally cornering Hop at this point, but that was the kid’s fault for backing himself into the corner to begin with. “All I had to say was you probably got cold feet, and he believed me. He agreed and said it sounded just like you. Your stupid brother didn’t even bat an eye, didn’t even take a moment to think for a second longer how important that match was to you, because you’re just an _afterthought_ to him, Hop. Nothing important to him.”

“Shut up!” That spark was definitely there, and Raihan hated— _almost hated_ —how excited it got him seeing Hop this wound up, this upset. If he wanted to think Raihan was a liar, then so be it. There would be no convincing him on this matter, not when it came to his brother.

But fuck that guy. Fuck that guy so hard, Raihan was still suppressing the urge to hunt him down and beat the fucking hell out of him. “He doesn’t appreciate you, Hop. Even Leon thinks you just got scared and ran off, just like everyone else did.”

Hop’s hands were clenched so hard, Raihan was surprised he hadn’t taken a swing at him yet, but he never dropped his glare. “You’re a fucking liar! You’re so full of shit!”

Raihan rolled his eyes. With every word that spewed from this kid’s mouth, the absolute fucking denial he was in, it was grating on his nerves, because why did he have to idolize Leon that damn much when the dumbass didn’t even bother thinking the same of Hop? He didn’t deserve this.

Leon didn’t deserve someone like Hop in his life. He took him for granted, he took all of Hop’s kindness for granted, left him to the curb, and forgot about him, just like everyone else.

Everyone had abandoned Hop. Everyone.

Except.

“I’m full of shit, huh?” Raihan felt a swell of nerves settle into the pit of his stomach as he forced out a laugh. “Still won’t take me seriously, Hop? Really? I guess I can’t really blame you for thinking only the best of your brother. You’ve been so blinded by what he’s become, you forget he’s first and foremost, the _champion,_ and the guy treats you like any of his fans.” He grinned down at Hop as he approached him, his height all the more obvious when he could reach out and grab him if he wanted, but Hop only continued to glare up at him, trying not to let Raihan intimidate him, but he could already tell by the way Hop’s knees were shaking that he was failing miserably. “Face it, babe, you’re nothing but just another fan to Leon. Another face in the crowd. Another nobody he won’t remember once his head hits the pillow that night. You’ve been living in his shadow since day one, and you know it.”

Hop’s glare never dropped. “Yeah, you’d know all about living in Lee’s shadow considering you can’t ever beat him in a match.”

_Ohh…_

Sucking in a breath, Raihan tried his best to quell his annoyances, but that one particularly stung. Hop hit him right in his pride, and he knew that. The kid knew he’d just messed with fire, Raihan could see it in his eyes Hop said that with every intention to try and hurt him, but—

He didn’t realize how much Raihan tended to like pain.

Even at the expense of his pride, Raihan smiled down at him, his annoyances peaked. If Hop wanted to play this game with him, argue with him, deny it all he wanted, then fine.

Fucking.

 _Fine_.

Let him. Let him think the world of Leon. Let him put him on a pedestal just to get hurt down the road. Let him think Leon was a fucking god for all he cared.

But—

“Tell you what, kid.” His voice was low, and he knew Hop could sense he’d made him angry, but Raihan didn’t care anymore. If Hop wanted to fight with him so bad, then he would happily oblige him all night long. He’d give the kid what he so desperately wanted. He’d fucking haggle with him. “You want out of here so fucking bad, then _fine_. You want to go running into Leon’s arms because he’ll save you? Fine. I’ll let you go.”

For a split moment, the tiniest of moments, Raihan could see a hopeful, yet cautious optimism light up in Hop’s eyes, and he grinned down at Hop while he loomed over him.

“I’ll let you go if you have sex with me.”

Hop seemed so small then, so much smaller than Raihan remembered him being. That one single sentence was all it took for the animosity Hop had displayed earlier to come crashing down—the fire went out of his eyes, replaced by what Raihan could only describe as fear. Pure fear.

Hop’s knees buckled, almost giving out, but he was backed so far into the wall, there was nowhere for him to run, and Raihan knew that. The both of them knew that, even as Raihan towered over him, the imbalance between them was so glaringly obvious, that it was almost comical. Here Hop was, smaller, weaker, trying to size up Raihan when he knew deep down Raihan had every opportunity to overpower him should he choose to do so.

Hop was helpless. And he knew that.

Just when Raihan was about to open his mouth and ask his answer, Hop snapped back up at him, though the fear having taken over his eyes, obvious in his body language, he never once dropped his glare.

“No. _Fuck you_ —that’s sick.” The quake in Hop’s voice went straight to Raihan’s cock.

Instead of responding right away, Raihan reached out to him, and Hop flinched. Holy shit, _did he flinch_ , but Raihan dragged his fingers through his hair, tousling the short tufts between his fingers as he ruffled Hop’s roots, and the kid cringed underneath him the whole time.

“You didn’t let me finish, babe.” That was a fucking lie, and Raihan knew it. Hop probably knew it too, but he was running purely on his desires now, trying his hardest not to let his emotions take over his rationale and allow his anger to control what he was saying—but it was so fucking hard with all that Hop had said, having the nerve to gush about his stupid brother when the guy didn’t even give a damn about him.

Hop was the one who wanted to haggle, after all. Raihan was just playing along.

“I’m not giving you a choice, I’m giving you an ultimatum.”

While he pat Hop’s hair, the kid flinching underneath his touch, his cheeks gushing with embarrassed heat, obviously uncomfortable with the way Raihan was playing with his hair (not that he cared), Hop only flashed his eyes back up at him, glaring, before Raihan smiled down at him.

“Have sex with me and I’ll let you go. _Or_.” He bent down until he was on his knees, until he was lowered right in front of Hop’s face, leading his hands from his hair down his face until he cupped his cheek against his palm. “If you’re going to complain about it so much, I’ll just hold you down kicking and screaming and fuck you anyway, but I’ll make damn sure you never leave this place. I’ll make sure you spend the rest of your life here. _I’ll make sure you die with me, baby_. We’re going to fuck either way—I’m _definitely_ fucking you again—so you can choose how we go about it.”

This wasn’t even a gamble. Raihan knew Hop would never agree to terms like this, and he was dooming him from the start, but Raihan was coming to his limit, and if he held off on him anymore, he would seriously hurt him if he got carried away. And that wasn’t what he wanted at all. Even if Hop agreed to this, he knew he wouldn’t keep his end of the bargain.

Hop was doomed. This was a no-win situation, and _Raihan fucking knew that._

All of the color drained from Hop’s face, and Raihan could have sworn he felt a rush of cold against his palm when Hop began to tremble, eyes trailing down away from him. For a moment, he thought he might cry again, but he never did. Hop’s breathing became erratic, only heard in short, choppy sounds like he was hyperventilating, but while he stood plastered against the wall, Raihan cupped his cheek, running circles along his face, playing with his glasses, smiling down at him as he waited patiently for Hop to respond.

By the look on that kid’s face alone, Raihan knew what that response was, but he wanted to hear him say it.

“You don’t have to look _so scared_ , kid. If you promise to sleep with me, I’ll be real gentle with you. I’ll take my time and make sure it won’t hurt. You can handle that, right?” Try as he might, Raihan’s reassurances didn’t appear to be working, as Hop looked close to passing out right then and there. Reaching out with his opposite hand, Raihan gripped hold of his arm to feel him trembling beneath him, and it almost made him feel guilty for doing this to him.

Almost.

Letting out a sigh, Raihan leaned in to give Hop the quickest kiss on the cheek he could offer before leaning back. “Tell you what, you do some thinking on what I’ve told you and get back to me, how’s that sound?”

No response from Hop. Only a short, choppy breath as the kid continued breathing harder and harder. If Raihan had any guess as to what he was thinking, Hop was surely scared out of his mind right now, but he didn’t want him to be. Raihan wasn’t doing this to scare him.

He loved him. He would never hurt him.

Raihan only sighed again, leaning off Hop as he stood from his knees, towering over him again and only hammering in the fact how much smaller Hop was than him. When he wasn’t glaring at him and trying to act tough, all he looked like to Raihan was a small, scared child.

“Kid, like I said. I ain’t gonna hurt you. If you agree to have sex with me, I’ll make sure it’s fun for you—promise. I won’t do anything scary. I’ll be slooooow and gentle. You’ll love it.”

Hop only trembled below him, now wringing his hands back and forth, but said nothing, didn’t even look at him as Raihan crossed his arms.

“Think about it. You agree to have sex, I’ll make sure you have the time of your life, but—” He bit his bottom lip, not being entirely truthful with what he was saying, but Hop didn’t know that. It was just to push him in the right direction, nothing more. “But if you fight me or try to run away, not only am I _not_ going to let you leave, but I’ll probably tie you up or something. Maybe even drug you again, who knows. I’ll fuck you so hard, you’ll be _screaming_ for me, babe.”

Hop’s face shot up as he stared up at him, and Raihan could almost feel the fear coming off him. That was a horrible thing to say, but that was the _point_. If Raihan scared him into agreeing to do this, things would be much simpler.

And after all—it wasn’t like he intended to hurt him one way or another. He would leave this up to Hop to make his choice on what he wanted to do. Either way—Raihan felt a swarm of excited nerves flounder down into his stomach—they were going to have sex. It was happening. And that made him incredibly happy. It wasn’t like he planned to hurt Hop, whatever his choice was, even if he chose to fight him, push him, throw a tantrum, Raihan might end up getting rough with him, but he’d never outright hurt him. He loved Hop.

With a final smile to the kid, one he hoped was reassuring, Raihan gave him a little wave. “Think about it, kid. It’s up to you.” And with that, Raihan turned to exit the room.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY THIS IS LONG AS FUCK i got super carried away ;-; 
> 
> WATCH OUT FOR dubcon, eventual noncon!!! it's not violent or anything but it's still mean

The sun was blazing hot that day in Hammerlocke. Summer was in full swing, and Raihan couldn’t get away with wearing his hoodie or bandana any longer (unless he wanted to sweat the death), so he opted for a casual black tank top in the meantime. The city was bustling, as it was prone to do, with people running amok, some stopping him to ask for selfies or autographs, which Raihan was all-too happy to do. He was never one for turning down fans after all, and the attention was nice, only swelling his already elated mood.

He’d been smiling all day, mostly because of the bag of clothes in his hand. Earlier that morning, Raihan did a little shopping, having to guess Hop’s shirt and trouser sizes, buying the kid some extra clothes so he wasn’t wearing the same two t-shirts every other day, and weirdly enough, it made him happy. Raihan wasn’t into fashion or anything like that by any means, but it gave him a weird sense of satisfaction to buy something like that for the kid. Anytime he’d see something, thinking how adorable Hop would look in it, he bought it without hesitation, his face gushing heat at the thought of him wearing clothes _Raihan_ picked out for him.

His good mood didn’t stop there. While most people in Hammerlocke who weren’t tourists knew who he was, he had an excuse filed away in case anyone questioned him why he was buying clothing when he had no family around that age-range. Raihan’s go-to was the inconspicuous excuse that he had a cousin who lived in another region, and wanted to buy clothes for their son, but thankfully nobody really gave a fuck enough to ask him about it, so Raihan needn’t bother with the lie.

He walked along the sidewalk, bags heavy with all the clothing he’d bought, and just when he was contemplating stopping at the nearby kiosk to get a cold drink, he caught sight of the canal just down the way. Oh—he’d forgotten the most important reason he’d even come out today. Taking a quick detour, he passed by a few kids playing baseball in the street, trying to blend himself in with the background as much as possible. Just another face in the crowd.

With the water rushing below him as he passed by, Raihan quickly reached into his pocket, fished out Hop’s phone, and dropped it into the water below. The small device was swept away by the current, and it wouldn’t be long before it got smashed against a rock, or possibly even eaten by a Pokémon. Whichever worked for him. Come to think of it—Raihan arched his eyebrows as the small little purple phone disappeared from view, he never really took note of the fact Hop didn’t have a Rotom in his phone. Not that it was a necessity or anything, but people nowadays generally had one possessing their phones for convenience, but he didn’t remember seeing any trace of one. Not in Hop’s phone, and not in his bag when he’d confiscated his Pokémon.

It left a bit of a bitter taste in the back of his throat, wondering if maybe Hop just didn’t want one, as it was a bit expensive to install one unless you went out and caught a Rotom yourself, and they were pretty rare to come across as it was. Just raised the question of why the hell didn’t Leon give him one—asshole certainly had enough money. Was it too much to spare a little for his brother?

Ugh, there he went again, getting all bent out of shape over Leon and the way he treated Hop (which was like shit in Raihan’s opinion). Well, it didn’t matter now. Hop didn’t have to worry about that fuck anymore now that he was with Raihan. Even though he wasn’t going to be allowed to have a phone at all should he try and alert anyone to what Raihan had done to him, he still intended to spoil the kid rotten.

With a grin extending his face, Raihan continued on his way, never once stopping his stroll even when he’d tossed the phone. Hopefully he’d been nonchalant enough about it nobody noticed, but there weren’t many people around the canal as it was, most of them either taking refuge in the shops for the air-conditioning or absorbed in their own matters. Plus, Raihan could always lie if push came to shove, and people would believe him, he knew.

The bags of clothes on his arm felt heavy, and with his tasks complete, Raihan finished his little detour before heading back toward the castle. Maybe in the coming days he could start buying furniture, like a television for starters would be nice. While he wanted nothing more than to spoil Hop with all kinds of shit he probably didn’t even need, he had to be careful about what he was buying. Just about any electronic could be used to contact somebody, so that meant no phone, no computer, probably no game systems. That didn’t leave much for the poor kid to do other than watch the telly and read books, but he’d get used to it after all. It wasn’t like Raihan was leaving him with _nothing_. Now that would be cruel.

With the sun looming at the highest point, making everything hot and muggy, Raihan finally entered through a side entrance at the edge of the castle, letting out a soft sigh of relief at the feeling of the air conditioner blowing on him. Raihan could take the heat much better than the cold, but it still could get extremely humid in Hammerlocke during the summer, and normally he’d be out jumping in the lake or something, but he had other things to occupy his time with. Mainly Hop for example.

His cheeks gushed at the thought of the kid as he took the elevator up to the top floors, clutching onto the bags and rocking on his heels in anticipation. Hop would probably have some smartass comeback at the fact he’d bought clothes for him, but Raihan couldn’t wait to see his face. Even though he often fantasized about Hop coming onto him, climbing in his lap, grinding down on him (his cock twitched just at the mere thought), he couldn’t deny seeing the kid glare at him and snap was hilarious. Hop was about as intimidating as—well, a Wooloo. It was adorable as hell, riling him up like he did, and Raihan knew he often took his teasing too far, purposefully pissing him off just so he could see his cute reactions.

The elevator stopped, and Raihan stepped out, taking the nearby stairwell to climb the rest of the way up to his apartment. Yeah…he should probably stop antagonizing the kid so much if he hoped to eventually get him comfortable enough around him. It was fun as hell though, way too much fun picking at him and teasing, but Raihan knew eventually he would have to take a step back, and really—it wouldn’t kill him to be a _little_ nicer to the kid. Raihan’s playful antics could only push his buttons so far, as he knew this was a big adjustment for him, the kid had a lot to think about after all, and he was still in denial that Raihan was serious about keeping him.

His breathing turned a bit harsh as he climbed the stairs. Even with their deal weighing on his mind, Hop still hadn’t given him an answer. It’d been two days since then, and Hop had done all he could to avoid Raihan around the apartment, but Raihan was losing his patience. If he wasn’t horny before, he certainly as shit was now. Waiting for that kid to give him a straight answer only made him antsy until he was ready to explode, in more ways than one. He thought giving him space to think about it would be a good thing, but it was apparent now that he thought about it. Hop was purposefully avoiding answering him, because he knew there wasn’t going to be any way out of this.

And really, Raihan had given him an impossible choice from the get-go. There was no fucking way Hop would ever agree to have sex with him, and he knew that. No way that kid would come to him, take up the offer, so Raihan _knew_ he was only delaying the inevitable. Well—he was done waiting. He’d given that kid two days to think about it, and it was high time he got his answer today. Besides, Raihan was fucking him no matter what he said, even if he fought him, even if the kid screamed his lungs out and fought him tooth and nail, Raihan wasn’t above drugging him again—just to calm him down. Nothing too serious. He wouldn’t knock him unconscious at least, no. Raihan wanted to see his eyes while he was fucked, he wanted to hear that kid moan his name, beg him for it, writhe underneath him, Raihan wanted to overstimulate him until he was sobbing from it.

The walk up the stairs left him a bit winded, which was a good thing as it gave him something else to concentrate on. If Raihan got too carried away with his thoughts, he’d probably walk through the apartment with an erection, and then it would be _really_ hard to hold off on going at the kid, but as he sucked in some air, catching his breath, he pulled his keycard from his pocket before unlocking the entry door, shutting himself up inside. The little mechanism locked behind him the moment he shut the door, and he took a long breath before striding down the hall and up the final staircase that led him back into his apartment. The first thing he noticed when he closed the door behind him was how quiet it was. That in itself wasn’t all that odd, but Hop had taken a liking to the television, and he often found him seated on the sofa, curled into a ball and watching either the news or cartoons.

It was adorable as all hell seeing Hop act like…well, a _kid_. Raihan had no idea why that made heat gush from his cheeks seeing Hop curled up on the couch like that, watching some slapstick cartoon, but it made him want to run over, scoop him up in his arms, and hold him tight, plant kisses all over his face, and—

Raihan shook his head. He had to get a hold of himself. Thoughts like that were running rampant more and more, especially with this deal hanging over his head, but he couldn’t give Hop anymore time to procrastinate. He was getting his answer today, even though the outcome was going to be exactly the same, because it didn’t matter even if Hop _did_ agree to it, Raihan wasn’t letting him go. That was a shitty thing to do, he knew it, but if he didn’t fuck that kid soon, he was going to lose his composure and then he’d _really_ hurt him by accident if he did. This whole deal nonsense was just an excuse for Raihan to get his dick wet that much faster, because he hated to think of the idea of the kid blue balling him so much that he lost control of himself and fucked him until he was crying.

Raihan didn’t want to do that, but _fuck_. The kid made him so irrational that it was almost scary. It wasn’t like he planned to be completely cruel to him, as he wanted Hop to enjoy himself, he really did. He wanted the kid to love every bit of what Raihan planned to do to him, even if he got a little rough, he would never, _ever_ intentionally hurt him if he could help it. This wasn’t so much about Raihan’s lust as it was showing Hop how good he was for him. Maybe if he took his time, was really gentle and loving with him, Hop would come around and realize being with Raihan was much better than being with those who didn’t give a shit about him.

Raihan sighed. He just—he swallowed. _Fuck_ , he loved him. He really did. He loved Hop so much it almost killed him.

Having caught his breath from all the stair climbing he’d done, Raihan strode down the hallway, peeking his head into the living room, surprised Hop wasn’t in there watching television, as it had more or less become his go to place. While it was a bit odd, it wasn’t unheard of, and Raihan simply made his way to Hop’s bedroom, not even bothering knocking before he opened the door. It was rude, he knew, but he often wondered if he’d get lucky enough to catch Hop changing his clothes where he’d have an excuse to stare at him, but so far, Raihan had no luck, and that was the case as well now. Hop was nowhere to be found, but a quick glance to the side showed the light shining from the crack at the bottom of the bathroom door, and with a smile playing on his face, Raihan set the bag of clothes down on Hop’s bed before giving the door a knock.

“You alright, kiddo?” He tipped his head in slightly, knowing he was probably invading Hop’s private bathroom time, but hell, Raihan wouldn’t complain one iota if he heard Hop peeing. The kid would probably be embarrassed as hell, but it’d be yet another reason for Raihan to tease him, but unfortunately, he didn’t hear anything from the other side of the door.

After a few seconds of waiting for a response and never receiving one, Raihan reached down to grip the door handle, finding it locked. Ah—so Hop _was_ inside.

“Kid?” he called, jiggling the handle to no avail. “I know you’re in there. Come on out, I got something for ya.”

“Go away.”

The sound of Hop’s rather echoed voice didn’t quite set right with Raihan. Normally, Hop would be snapping back at him, getting an attitude, all things like that, but even through the door and with the echo of the bathroom, he could hear the misery in Hop’s tone alone, and he let out a sigh at the sound of it. He sounded tired, like he hadn’t gotten a decent night’s sleep in a long while, and Raihan leaned his shoulder against the door.

“You okay? You don’t sound too good. You ain’t sick, are ya?” Though he was just trying to be nice, Raihan had a sneaking suspicion why Hop had locked himself up. Hop wasn’t too hard to figure out, and Raihan knew the only reason he’d done this was to get away from him, so he wouldn’t have to give him an answer.

Again, Hop’s tone was low and so tired sounding. “Leave me alone.”

“Kid.” He knew what he was doing. Raihan wasn’t stupid—Hop was just trying to get out of their deal, but he couldn’t stay cooped up in the bathroom forever. He was going to have to come out eventually, and they both knew that. “Come on, open up. I bought you some stuff, don’t you want to see?”

“No.”

With a weighted sigh, Raihan rolled his eyes. As much as he would have liked to tease him, maybe embarrass him enough for Hop to open the door for him, his patience was running out, it had been running out for the past two days, and he was coming to his limit. The last thing he wanted to do was snap at the kid, but Hop was starting to test him. He must have known how horny Raihan was for him, and he was being such a _fucking tease._ “Fine. Hope you know this means as far as our bargain goes, you ain’t leaving now. Hell, I can just take the door off the bathroom, kid. You ain’t in an impenetrable fortress or nothing, I could probably kick it down if I really wanted, but I’ll just fuck you until you’re screaming and—” No sooner had Raihan gotten those words out of his mouth then he heard the lock switch, the bathroom door opening, and Hop emerged, glaring up at him from underneath his glasses, his eyes lidded and his brow pinched.

“What.” His voice was ladled with poison until Raihan could practically see it spewing out. _Fuck_ , it was hot.

Not letting Hop’s expression get to him, Raihan grinned, taking a step back before gesturing toward the shopping bag he’d left on the bed. “Bought you some clothes. Figured you’d want to wear something than the same two things, right? Wanna go through it, see what fits?”

Hop’s expression hardened as his gaze fell to the bag, his grip on the bathroom door handle tightening until Raihan noticed the color draining from his knuckles. Without looking at him, Hop just stared over at the shopping bag as though it were the vilest thing he’d ever laid eyes on. “Why…?”

Raihan shrugged. “Because I wanted to. I want you as comfortable as possible, kid. Ain’t wrong of me to buy you new clothes, is it?”

With a tentative step back, Hop nibbled his bottom lip, and Raihan wondered for a split moment if he would close the door and lock himself back inside the bathroom, but he merely froze before opening his mouth. “I already told you I’m _not_ fucking staying here. Why’d you go and buy me clothes like I am?” His biting tone was back, something Raihan couldn’t help but arch his eyebrows at as he grinned down at him. The poor kid was still in denial over the fact Raihan was keeping him here, but based on his wording, he didn’t seem to realize he’d dug himself in a hole with that statement.

“You ain’t staying here, huh?” Raihan crossed his arms, leaning his shoulder against the door frame as he grinned down at Hop. “Does that mean you’re gonna have sex with me?”

The color drained of Hop’s face and he looked about ready to throw up, and while Raihan wanted to laugh at his reaction, he waited patiently for him to respond. It was now or never. Hop was going to give him his answer whether he wanted to or not.

The kid only tightened his grip on the door handle, clenching his other fist, but said nothing.

Raihan let out a sigh. He’d been as patient as he could be, but it was time to stop coaxing Hop along. If he wanted to make any headway with him, he was going to have to push him in the right direction. “Your time’s up, kid, I’ve waited for you long enough. Two days is two days too long to make a decision, now you’re going to tell me what you’re going to do _right now._ ”

Hop froze completely, until he really did look like he might vomit, but Raihan didn’t let up.

Leaning over slightly, just enough to get face level with him, his arms still crossed, Raihan gave him an expectant stare. “Well? I’m waiting, kid. Ain’t got all day. Hell, if you agree to have sex with me, I’ll help you pack if you want.”

He fully expected Hop to run, to fight, to give in to this impossible choice Raihan was leaving him with. It wouldn’t have surprised him a bit if Hop fought him tooth and nail then, scrambled out of the room, run away from him, beat him, punched him—hell, Raihan was prepared for all of that, even a little excited if he was being honest. Hop wasn’t hard to read, after all, he wore his emotions on his sleeve, not mature enough to know how to act in front of people, so he was like an open book in front of Raihan. Hop grit his teeth, palms shaking, and bit his lip several times as though fighting for what to say.

Raihan perked up. Any minute. He’d probably snap and run any minute now, tell Raihan to go fuck himself or something other, and try to fight his way out of this—

“Fine.”

Raihan blinked, actually taken aback by that that it caused him to physically flinch. “Wait, what?” He didn’t hear that right. Right?

Then Hop looked him in the eye, glaring at him again, a very obvious coat of blush on his cheeks when he did so—fuck, did Raihan notice him blushing and it took every ounce of his willpower not to grab his face and kiss him. “I said fine. I’ll do it.”

Well…he certainly didn’t expect that. Not that he was complaining, and his heart began to race as Hop agreeing to this meant he could be a bit gentler with him, but Raihan cleared his throat, leaning back up to stand at his full height. Hop never dropped his glare as he watched him, as if daring Raihan to make a move.

Hop was way more resilient than he gave him credit for, and _shit_ , was it hot. He was turning Raihan on and he didn’t even know it. With another grin, Raihan placed a hand to his waist as he eyed him. “Well _look at you._ Couldn’t resist me, huh? Can’t say I blame you.”

Hop scoffed, rolling his eyes when he did so, but Raihan could see a definite hesitance to his movements, the slightest bit of trembling that his hands were doing. “Fuck you. I just want to get the hell out of here.”

Raihan’s smile widened. “Aw, don’t worry, baby, I’ll have you moaning and writhing around me so much, you won’t _want_ to leave.”

Instead of responding, Hop outwardly cringed to the point Raihan could see him grit his teeth, finally lowering his lidded eyes to some random part of the carpet which he continued to glare at. “Whatever.”

He certainly was confident, Raihan had to give him that. Well—confident was a bit of a stretch, but he was determined at least. He hadn’t expected him to give in at all, so this was a pleasant surprise. Already, Raihan’s thoughts were running away with him, wondering what he could get away with, just how far he could push him before Hop inevitably broke and bent over backwards, because it honestly didn’t matter how far he went along with him, even if Raihan somehow managed to get him to participate all the way to the end, he wasn’t letting Hop leave.

He never had any hope to begin with, if he thought just agreeing to have sex would get him out of here, Raihan was determined not to let that happen. He’d lied, he knew he’d lied, and while he never planned to let Hop go, that didn’t mean he didn’t plan on having some fun with him in the meantime.

Reaching out, Raihan ruffled his hair, causing Hop to sputter before he shoved his hand away. “Stop!”

Arching his brow, Raihan shot him an amused stare. “Careful, kid. This applies to _everything_ , not just sex. That means I can kiss you, tease you, do whatever the fuck I want to you, and you gotta go along with it.”

Hop glared back up at him, his glasses steaming a bit from the heat exuding from his face. “Fuck you—you’re making shit up now!”

“Do you want to go home or not?”

At that, Hop bit his lip, but didn’t drop his glare. Raihan couldn’t help but sneer as the kid was at a loss for words, but his silence spoke volumes in ways words couldn’t.

“Thought so. Now c’mere, gimme a kiss.”

Without waiting for Hop to reply, or even react, Raihan was on him. Gripping him by the shoulders, he bent over until he was face level, the last thing he saw being Hop’s realization of shock before he pressed their mouths together, kissing him. He hadn’t kissed Hop in awhile, or at least, it felt like awhile. In reality, it had been a few days, but he’d kept his distance in order for Hop to have his space, as hard as it was, but he was starving for him.

He fully expected Hop to push against him, something he could say was breaking his part of the bargain, but to his surprise, Hop remained lax underneath him, only cringing when he seized up, slamming his eyes shut. Being pressed so far against him, Raihan could feel the heat gushing from his face, and he couldn’t help the laugh that bubble in the back of his throat. Poor Hop had no idea there was no way out for him with this, but he knew if Hop knew that, he’d be kicking and screaming. Really, this whole bargain nonsense was just an excuse for Raihan to talk him into sex.

It was a horrible thing to do, but right now, Raihan just wanted him. He could worry about feeling guilty later. Every ounce of his body was craving for Hop, begging for him, wanting to pound his cock into him so bad it was driving him insane. Hop was like a drug he’d only had a sliver of, and Raihan was thirsty for more, and even kissing him like he was, running his hand up through the back of his hair to tousle and tangle his short locks, he was overcome by Hop’s scent, by the feeling of him alone.

He was so small underneath him, just kissing him like he was, Raihan even shoving his tongue in his mouth, causing Hop to wince below him, making a little moan that drove him fucking crazy, Raihan was high. High on the best drug possible, that being Hop.

Holy _fuck_ , did he love him. 

He almost said it. When he finally leaned off him, his lips moist from his own excitement, Raihan felt his cheeks gush with heat as he stared at Hop through lidded eyes, smiling at him. The kid still had his eyes slammed shut, having just sat there and taken it, definitely not kissing back, but Raihan could forgive him for now. And he opened his mouth, the words, “L-lo…” seeping out before he quickly caught himself, Raihan’s heart hammering in his chest. Fuck—he couldn’t tell this kid he loved him. If he did, he really would nail himself to the fact he wasn’t ever going to let him go.

This was cruel, teasing Hop like this in an impossible choice, but he never had a choice to begin with. Raihan loved him, he wanted to keep him, and the minute those words left his mouth, he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold back anymore. It would abolish all the guilt, all the feelings that this was wrong, what he was doing, but he couldn’t tell Hop he loved him.

Raihan really would do something crazy if he did that, even though he knew deep down he _did_ love him, he did care for him. What he was doing was possibly one of the cruelest things he could possibly do, giving Hop false hope, but he just wanted him to know how loved he was, how crazy Raihan was about him.

It was a long shot, but Raihan wanted to think maybe—just maybe, if he couldn’t convince Hop with his words, maybe having sex with him again would prove to him how this wasn’t a bad thing, and he was much better off. Maybe if Raihan was some fucking sex god from above that could give Hop the best orgasm of his life, he wouldn’t want to leave him.

His hands were trembling as he gripped Hop’s shoulders, Raihan’s face still gushing with red heat. If he ever, _ever_ convinced Hop to stay with him, that would be…

He sucked in a breath.

That would be euphoric. Because holy shit—did he love this kid so much. Even looking at him now, as Hop finally opened his eyes, reaching up to wipe his mouth, Raihan felt a warmth in his chest, a soft smile curled his mouth, and he pulled Hop against his chest, giving him a fast hug, inhaling the scent of his hair before he pulled away. Couldn’t afford to get too carried away. Not yet. But he wanted to hold him, if just for a moment.

“Alright, kiddo. Ima go get us something to eat later on. Why don’t you do your own thing for awhile and I’ll call you when food’s here, yeah?”

Hop, still cringing, narrowed his eyes up at him, and why did he have to look so _fucking adorable_ with his cheeks blushing like that, glaring up at Raihan through his glasses? It only made him want to kiss him all over again. “Why?”

Raihan shrugged but offered him a smile. “Duh, you gotta eat, don’t you? I told you if you agreed, I was gonna treat you reeeeeal gentle, and I plan to keep my word. And doesn’t a nice dinner before we have some fun sound nice?”

The color drained from Hop’s face, but he remained silent.

Raihan would be lying if he said the thought of trying to woo Hop before they had sex wasn’t enticing as all hell. Could this be considered a date? Hell of a place to have a date, in his apartment, but hell, Raihan would take whatever he could get. At least, he would pretend it was a date. Hop didn’t have to know.

With no response given, not that he expected him to, Raihan shot Hop a final, toothy grin before he ruffled his hair. “Call you soon, babe.” And he turned, striding across the room before he crossed the threshold.

* * *

The sun was just shy of setting by the time Raihan returned to the castle that evening with a box full of take out curry. He knew Hammerlocke’s curry wasn’t as decadent as Wyndon’s, but the place down the street carried one of Hop’s favorite flavors, and Raihan was definitely going to get him something he wanted for tonight. Better than anything he could attempt in the kitchen anyway. All day long, he’d given the kid some space, as he wanted to do this right, even though Raihan was itching in his skin to fuck him again, he wanted to take things slow.

It was corny as all hell, but he at least wanted to attempt some romance before they slept together. With Hop’s compliance, it would give Raihan an excuse to put the charms on him, though he knew nothing he did would convince that kid right off the bat to live with him, but it was still something he wanted to do. It made his chest swell with warmth, and Raihan couldn’t help to grin at the thought of trying to make Hop as comfortable as possible when they did this. He wasn’t going to fuck the kid raw or anything—that was the last thing he wanted to do, but he couldn’t wait—absolutely could _not wait_ for the moment they got to his bed and he could see Hop naked once more.

It felt like he was being given access back to the best drug he’d ever taken, and Raihan was losing himself.

Once he was back at the castle, he hustled up the stairs, trying not to let his imagination get away with him as he ascended to the tower, and before long, he was back in his apartment, breathing heavy from the climb, but also flushed at the idea of seeing Hop.

“Babe?” he called out, scanning the immediate area for any signs of him, not surprised when he found none. “Got us some food!” With the box of food in hand, Raihan passed down the hall toward his kitchen, dumping everything onto the table. Yeah, it would have been a lot more romantic if he had cooked the food himself, but Raihan wasn’t exactly knowledgeable in the culinary department. Hop wouldn’t be upset with takeout, especially if it was his favorite, right?

He half-expected Hop to meet him at the table, either sauntering out of his room, or emerging from the living room, but the kid was nowhere in sight. Tearing himself away from the kitchen, Raihan went on the hunt, checking Hop’s bedroom first only to find the light of the bathroom still on. Hop hadn’t been in the bathroom all day, had he?

“Hop?” Gently, he rapped his knuckles against the door, calling for him. “You in there? Food’s here. Come on out.”

To his utter surprise, the lock turned before the door slowly opened, revealing Hop who looked as though he had showered not long ago. His hair was damp, a fresh set of clothes thrown on (none Raihan bought him, he noticed), and with the door wide open, the scent of whipped cream was so overwhelming that Raihan almost blanched backward.

Normally, he would have teased him about showering up just for him, but Raihan could only stare down at him, noticing how Hop shot him a glare when he did, and fidgeted his arms. The scent of his shampoo and wash was engulfing him until Raihan felt like he was getting high off the scent alone, and he must’ve stood there staring at Hop for way too long, because then the kid crossed his arms and glared up at him. “What?”

Shaking his head, Raihan tried to get a grip on himself, but couldn’t help to stare. “Y-you’re beautiful.” It slipped out before he could even stop himself and he quickly straightened back, clearing his throat when he did so and had to avert his gaze for a moment. “I-I mean, you look hot, kid.” _That_ would certainly smooth things over, but Raihan was getting heated, in the worst way possible right now. If he wasn’t careful, he might skip dinner entirely, tear Hop’s clothes off, and—

“Whatever. Move.” Without waiting for Raihan to respond, Hop pushed past him, crossing the hallway toward the kitchen where the box of takeout sat on the table. Raihan followed after him, the smile on his face widening more and more. For Hop to still have the guts to put up this aggressive front with him—it made him excited for how he was going to act in bed later. Maybe he could talk him into some raunchier stuff, but Raihan quickly put that thought out of his mind. Hop was just acting, playing the part of being a hardass.

Raihan knew deep down he was scared to death, and while that made that awful pang of guilt dip into the pit of his stomach, he still intended to make this as painless as possible for him. He wasn’t going to go hard at him like he did before. Tonight would be all about making sure Hop enjoyed every bit of what he did to him, but he’d been around him long enough to know this attitude was his defenses shooting up. Hop didn’t like it when people knew he was scared, so he lashed out instead.

Raihan snorted. Just another quirk about him not many people were aware of, but Raihan knew. Raihan loved all his quirks, no matter how bad they seemed.

Settling down at the table, he began taking the food from the box, setting Hop’s takeout curry in front of him as he sat down, eyeing the food like it was poison. “Got your favorite.” Raihan shot him a grin, even though Hop wasn’t looking at him, it was a habit at this point to smile simply by setting his sights on him. Raihan couldn’t help it. The kid made him too happy.

Instead of responding, Hop opened his curry, the scent wafting into the air soon after, enough to make even Raihan’s mouth water, and he wasn’t even the biggest curry fan. He ate it on occasion, but he knew the kid liked it, so he figured—why not. Anything to make him more comfortable and get him in the mood.

“Dig in. Don’t be shy.” He sat himself across the table from Hop, scooping up rice before chowing down himself. While it was a bit awkward as Raihan wasn’t entirely sure what to say, eventually Hop did start picking at his food, nibbling here and there. It wasn’t what Raihan was hoping for, but it was better than nothing.

Swallowing a mouthful of rice, Raihan perked up. “Is it good? Know it’s not as grand as Wyndon’s curry, but it’s all we got.”

Hop picked up a spoonful of rice before nudging it into the corner of his plate, not taking a bite. “It’s…fine.”

“Want any bread?”

“No.”

“Water? You been drinking tons of soda lately, probably need some water.”

“No—I.” Letting out an exasperated sigh, Hop set his spoon down, pinching his brow at Raihan as he lifted his head away from his bowl. “Why are you doing this?”

Taking a swig of his own water, Raihan arched his eyebrows. “Doing what? Feeding you? Why wouldn’t I feed you?”

“You—” And he bit his bottom lip, lowering his gaze as his cheeks flushed red. “Why are you dragging this out? I already told you _I would do it._ Why can’t you just get it over with so I can go home?” The red in Hop’s cheeks was so obvious that Raihan almost moaned at the sight of his face. Fuck, the kid really did look gorgeous no matter how he was looking at him, especially when he was embarrassed. It was too cute.

In all honesty, there was nothing Raihan wanted to do more than _‘get it over with’_ as Hop put it, but he frowned, setting his own spoon down beside his bowl as he gave the kid a hard-pressed stare. “I just wanted to ease you into it is all. Have a nice dinner before we get down to business. Is it really so bad?”

And his glare only intensified. “Gee, _thanks._ ” His palms began to tremble and did Raihan _notice_ how his shoulders bunched up. Hop looked so uncomfortable that it was making Raihan uncomfortable too. Hop continued, never once dropping his glare or holding back the spite in his tone. “Just get it over with. I want to go home already. I’m sick of being here.”

Raihan leaned back in his chair, not having much of an appetite left to speak of, but this wasn’t going at all how he planned. He hoped by offering the kid something he liked, maybe it would loosen him up, but he was trying to be understanding of his feelings, he really was. He knew Hop was scared, and to him, this was just Raihan trying to torture him, but he wasn’t trying to make this harder for him. Just the opposite.

Still, he couldn’t help some of his own spite from surfacing. Hop was just so positive that he could sit there and have sex with him, like it was no big deal. He probably thought all Raihan planned to do was fuck him while he lie underneath him and cringed the whole time and would call it a day.

Raihan closed his eyes, sucking in a breath as he did so.

He might not have planned to get rough with him, but he certainly wasn’t going to let Hop think it would be that easy. Even if he lied from the start, even when he planned to never let him go, even if Hop did everything he was told, Raihan wasn’t letting him leave and that was that.

But, if he was so desperate to get it over with, the least Raihan could do was oblige him. And who was to say he couldn’t have a little fun while he was at it?

Exhaling, Raihan opened his eyes, Hop still glaring off at him, and he shot him a grin. “You want to get to it that bad, huh? Can’t stand another minute away from me?”

Hop cringed, folding into himself even more. “Get over yourself. I’m only agreeing to this so you’ll get your kicks and let me go. You told me yourself you’d help me pack, right?” His stare flashed with a hint of cynicism.

Ignoring the way the kid was looking at him, Raihan scooted his chair back, standing from it to his full height before he gave him a nod. “Right, right. If you’re done eating, let’s go then.” Side-stepping from around the table, Raihan outstretched his hand toward Hop, offering him a smile as he did so.

Still seated, Hop’s glare turned toward his open palm like Raihan was trying to give him a bag of garbage rather than his hand, and instead of taking it, he simply stood from his chair, eyes no longer locked to Raihan’s, but he crossed his arms.

No, no, Raihan wasn’t going to let him get away with things like that anymore. If the kid thought he was just going to get to sit there and take whatever Raihan did to him, he had another thing coming.

Extending his fingers, he made a little ‘come here’ motion as he rubbed them back and forth. “Come on, kid. Remember what I said. Little things like this count too.”

This was the moment when Raihan thought for sure Hop would lose his nerve, maybe run, or try to fight him off, but in a stretch of silence that lasted way too long, Hop’s shoulders drooped. With a resounding sigh, his gaze locked to the kitchen floor, he slowly reached up, his hand shaking, before he placed it against Raihan’s palm.

Absolutely elated, he closed his fingers around him, completely covering the kid’s hand, and pulled him close, not giving Hop a chance to react before he nabbed his chin, forced him to look back up at him, and Raihan gave him a fleeting kiss. Hop went rigid beneath him but protested no further. He wasn’t even glaring at him anymore, but Raihan could tell by his body language alone that now the reality of the situation was setting in and that defensive wall he’d tried desperately to lock himself behind was crumbling down.

“Come on, baby.” He tried to keep his voice low and soft, not wanting to alarm Hop should he get cold feet at the last minute. Raihan wondered how far he could take the kid before he bailed on him, but he was excited to see what all he could talk him into. Poor Hop’s face fell when Raihan led the two away from the kitchen, down the hall, and into his bedroom. The kid was dragging his steps, but struggling to catch up with Raihan’s longer strides, and it felt like an eternity before they reached Raihan’s bedroom.

He didn’t want to give the kid anymore reason to hate being in his room by fucking him there again and plus, Raihan’s bed was much bigger to accommodate the both of them. He didn’t mind if Hop wanted to start sleeping with him here—hell, it took all his willpower not to climb in Hop’s bed and sleep with him every night.

Releasing Hop’s hand, the kid folded into himself again, crossing his arms, looking as though he were trying to make himself appear much smaller than he was as Raihan closed the bedroom door behind them, crossing the room toward his bed where he flicked on the bedside lamp. His lubricant was always kept in the bedside drawer, so he could easily fish it out whenever he needed it. For now, he sat on the edge of the bed, facing Hop, shot the kid a wide smile, and pat his lap.

“Come on then. Don’t be shy, babe, I won’t bite.” Again, he pat his lap, waiting for Hop to come to him.

It was cruel to make Hop be the one to initiate things like this, but it wasn’t like Raihan planned to make obscene demands from him. He wasn’t going to make the kid suck his cock or anything like that—fuck no, that really would freak him out. Besides, he’d much rather Hop come to him and beg him for that. That was something that would be a loooong time coming, but Raihan had all the patience in the world for him.

The silence in the room was a bit suffocating, as Hop didn’t move right away, though Raihan could see him shuffling his feet back and forth, as though contemplating whether or not he should wrench the door open and make a run for it. He wouldn’t put it past him, but to his surprise, Hop approached the bed, albeit incredibly slow, before he was standing in front of Raihan. His face was downcast, gaze set to the carpet, and Raihan reached out, letting out a laugh through his nose as he did so before gripping hold of his chin and forcing Hop’s face back up.

“You’re doing good, babe. Don’t be scared. I promise I won’t hurt you. I ain’t interested in anything like that. All I want is for you to have fun, okay?”

Hop tensed, but said and did nothing, though Raihan could feel even in the way he was gripping his chin that Hop was cringing. He gave him another smile. “Relax, it’ll be okay. It’s gonna feel good, alright?”

With Hop right in front of him, face level with him now that Raihan was seated on the bed, he couldn’t help himself. It was true he didn’t plan to let Hop out of this without having a little fun himself, but he wouldn’t ask the kid to do anything too raunchy with him. Just a little tease wouldn’t hurt.

“Hey.” Raihan leaned in, until their noses almost touched, and he could practically feel the heat radiating off Hop’s face when he blushed. His gaze was locked to some random part of the wall behind Raihan’s head, and he looked so uncomfortable, it was the stark opposite to how snarky he’d been earlier, but Raihan gave him a gentle squeeze to his arm as he smiled at him. “Won’t you kiss me?”

Slowly, Hop’s eyes trailed back over to him, to Raihan’s soft smile, and he rested both arms against his knees, slouching in his seat in a way he was still leveled with Hop’s face. The kid didn’t say a word.

“It’s just a kiss, Hop. You wanna do it on my cheek, you can.” To reiterate, Raihan craned his neck to the side, leaning that half of his face in, trying to entice Hop into kissing him. “Don’t be scared. Promise I won’t do nothing scary to you.”

These were all baby steps he was taking, trying to coax Hop into engaging. With the way he was acting, Raihan wanted to be gentler with him, he really did. As hard as it was to hold back going at him sometimes, if Hop was going to be compliant, Raihan would take all the time he needed for him to get comfortable with him. And besides, it was much better, no matter how slow he was about it, when Hop was the one to make the first move.

It drove Raihan _fucking wild._

Slowly, and with a horrible, notable hesitance, Hop leaned in, Raihan able to hear his rattled breathing when he was close enough, and he almost lost it when he felt Hop press his lips against his cheek. He wasn’t expecting Hop to go along with him so much, but he wasn’t about to stop here. Hop was turning him on, even doing simple, small things like this, Raihan wanted to fuck him so bad, but he bit down his urge. Gentle—he had to be gentle with him.

For Hop to be so dead set on getting this over with, it almost gave Raihan whiplash seeing his mood shift like this. Even though he knew that whole hardass front was just a cover up for how Hop really felt, it still threw him for a loop to see the kid now beginning to lose control of himself a little. He was shaking, even as Raihan leaned back, his cheek wet from the kiss, he could hear his breath hitching in his throat, having no doubt if he pressed his palm against his chest, he’d feel Hop’s rapid heartbeat.

“Hey, hey.” His tone was soothing, gentle. Anything to coax Hop along, and he reached up to cup his cheek, feeling the heat that gushed out. “Don’t be scared, baby. You’re doing good—you’re doing so good for me right now.”

Normally Hop would flinch away from him, slap his hands in an attempt to get Raihan to stop touching him, but he only stood there, frozen, trembling, the color draining from his face. He probably never thought Raihan would make him kiss him and was probably scared shitless about what else he was going to make him do. Kid probably thought he’d make him suck his cock, but Raihan wouldn’t do that to him. It wouldn’t feel good if all he did was choke on him—he wanted Hop to _want it._

Now that he was leaned back slightly, Raihan rested his palms behind him, stretching his back a bit as he relaxed, never once dropping his smile from Hop. “You don’t have to act so shy. We’re the only ones here and I ain’t planning on sharing you with nobody at least.” Reaching around with one arm, Raihan patted his lap again, hoping Hop would get the hint and climb up. “Take a seat.”

Now it was more obvious that Hop’s entire body was beginning to shake, but he complied. A bit awkwardly, his breathing becoming more and more erratic, until Raihan thought he might have to get him a damn paper bag, Hop slowly approached, gripping Raihan’s knees as he hoisted himself up, Raihan feeling every single one of his tremors now that he was actually touching him, until Hop finally straddled his lap. Giving him a smile, Raihan stroked the back of his hair, running his fingers through the soft locks that he swore cast that scent of whipped cream through the air every time he touched him. Hop smelled so good, he was tempted to lick his entire body, pretty sure if he did so, his skin would be soft from his recent shower. Fuck—it was hard to hold back.

The way Hop was sitting on him though—his ass was right on Raihan’s dick and he sucked in a breath. It’d be embarrassing if he got hard so fast, but it was difficult to keep his desires in check, especially with the way he wanted so much to rut up into him. Raihan sucked in a breath, trying to calm himself down. It wasn’t embarrassing so much as amazing that Hop had this kind of affect over him, able to get him off just by sitting in his lap the right way. And he even sat with his legs on either side of him, without Raihan having to ask to be straddled.

In a way, Hop wasn’t as ignorant to intimacy as he first thought.

Trailing his hands from the back of his hair down to his face, Raihan cupped his cheek, the smile never disappearing from his face as he gave him small caresses. “Damn, baby, you’re really beautiful, you know that?”

Hop’s only response was to stiffen above him, Raihan able to feel more of his body’s reactions now that he was sitting in his lap. With his breathing somewhat stilted, Hop made up for it by not quite looking him in the eye, but it didn’t appear he was growing flighty either. At least—Raihan hadn’t seen any evidence that Hop would freak out and try to run. The kid was determined, that was for damn sure.

It was hard for Raihan not to take advantage.

Trying to placate himself more than anything, Raihan leaned into him, giving him a small kiss against his mouth, before he pulled back. “It’s getting a little stuffy in here.” A small laugh through Raihan’s nose, and he felt Hop grow rigid beneath him as he spoke. “Help me out here, kid. Think you can undress me?”

While one of Raihan’s ultimate fantasies was to have Hop come onto him, instigate this entire thing, even beg to suck his cock, he was curious to see how much he could ask of him before Hop inevitably broke down. There had to be a limit somewhere, and Raihan was determined to find it, one way or another. Even if it didn’t matter, because Hop wasn’t leaving, no matter how much he complied, Raihan knew there were some things even Hop wouldn’t agree to, no matter how desperate he was.

But—Raihan sucked in a breath when the kid’s hands came up to the collar of his tank top. Hop wasn’t looking at him, but Raihan could tell based on his gaze alone he was trying very hard not to make eye contact with him. He’d probably lose his resolve if that happened, which Raihan kept tucked into the back of his mind for now. He’d let it slide until he found a use for it anyway.

Slowly, Hop tugged against the collar of his shirt, his hands trembling even more now that Raihan was making him engage and _touch_ him, but he didn’t falter. In a movement that threw Raihan for a loop, the kid took his other hand, gripping the hem of Raihan’s tank top and lifting it until his stomach was exposed. The chilled air that hit his bare skin was enough for Raihan to suck in a breath, and he forgot himself for a moment, so lost in the euphoria that Hop was actually undressing him, that he only halfway realized when Hop hesitated, as though the sounds Raihan was making meant he was doing something wrong.

“K-keep going, kid. You’re doing good.” Even his voice was quivering, giving way to Raihan’s lust. He knew Hop wasn’t purposefully teasing him, but damn if it wasn’t doing it for him, only serving to make him twice as horny as he was before. Raihan wasn’t typically one for slow going like this, preferring to get to the thick of it, but when it was with Hop, he felt like he was edging and they hadn’t even _done_ anything yet.

With slow, deliberate movements, Hop used both hands to tug at the hem, until Raihan eventually worked with him, raising his arms so that he could lift the tank top up and over his head. Hop pulled it the rest of the way out from around his arms, now holding it, though he quickly dropped it off to the side where it tumbled to the floor. He hadn’t once looked at Raihan during that entire ordeal, but now that his bare chest was right in front of him, Raihan could see the starting signs of blush coating his face.

“Mmm—babe…” Raihan’s own voice was starting to quiver, but more out of the need to have his cock inside of this kid right this second. “Good—you’re doing good for me.” With a playful tug to the bottom of Hop’s t-shirt, he gave him a soft laugh. “Now take your clothes off for me, will you?” Normally, Raihan would want to undress Hop himself, but again—limits. What would be the thing to make Hop break down and say he wanted out of this deal? What was it going to take for him to give Raihan an excuse to pull the rug out from under him? Even though he wasn’t truthful with the kid by any means, it would still give him a convenient excuse to say he hadn’t lied.

Shitty, he knew. But he didn’t care.

With a bit of a harsh intake of breath, Hop, still not looking at him, gaze focused downward, not even at Raihan’s bare chest, he took the hem of his own shirt in hand before dragging it up, exposing his stomach. Not able to help himself, Raihan’s eyes trailed down, his growing desire apparent when he felt the length of his own bulge dig into Hop’s ass, and he reached out, gripping hold of Hop by the sides of his hips, giving him a soft, but firm squeeze.

The small gasp Hop made was only audible because of the overwhelming silence in Raihan’s room, not shy of tension in the least. He ignored it for now, trailing his thumbs along Hop’s navel and abdomen, squishing patches of his skin between his fingers, not hard enough to pinch, but just hard enough to feel. Hop was scrawny as all hell, but there were parts of his body still filling out, a lot of his childhood baby fat still present in some areas but were slimming out the older he got. Raihan could remember when he was a little chubby kid, his face so round and happy, it felt strange to consider the fact he had known this kid since he was practically a toddler. He and Leon had been friends for _that_ long?

And that entire time, Hop had no idea that Raihan was slowly falling for him, to the point he was here with him, about to have sex. This was something that had taken years in the making and holy shit, was it worth _every second of it._

“Look at me.” His hands squeezed the outer sides of Hop’s stomach, feeling the muscle beneath twitched when he had no doubt it tickled, and Raihan expected him to lose his nerve, but so far, Hop had remained compliant throughout this entire situation. Compliant, but not lacking any hesitance in the slightest. Raihan could always go further and say it wouldn’t kill Hop to be a little slutty about it, but he was kind of enjoying seeing how shy he was. It was apparent more than ever that Hop had never done anything like this before, as he wasn’t undressing himself like he was putting on a show, but just undressing like any other young boy would do, like he was getting ready to take a shower or head to bed. Not sexy in the least, but Raihan didn’t necessarily mind.

It was a moment too long before Hop’s gaze rose, averted for only a moment, as if having to steel himself before he finally looked Raihan in the eye. His shirt was about halfway above his stomach, Hop having paused when Raihan gave him the command, but Raihan only smiled at him as a result, pleased with his obedience.

“You’ve really never done this before, have you?” That was a truth Raihan was already aware of. If Hop had ever been with someone, he would’ve been the first to know about it, and while he knew Hop had a crush on Gloria, that wasn’t about to happen anytime soon. Hop never dropped any hints for her about his true feelings, never gathering the nerve to admit he liked her, but Raihan wasn’t ignorant as to why.

Though the question was meant to be rhetoric, Hop slowly shook his head, and actually opened his mouth to speak. “I-I don’t know what to do.”

“You’re doing just fine, kid. Gettin’ me all hot at least.” It was meant to be reassuring, but there was no denying the way Hop’s face fell, his expression reading he would have thrown up if he could. Ugh—why did he have to look as though this was one of the worst things Raihan was ever making him do? He wanted Hop to enjoy himself, but it was obvious how uncomfortable he was, how he was just going through the motions to get this over with.

With Hop having paused while he undressed himself, Raihan couldn’t help but rut his hips up into him, just barely brushing his hardening length up against his ass, and _did it feel amazing._ He almost let out a moan at the feeling of Hop, already getting hard just through their clothes alone, but he stopped himself.

Instead, his hands still cupping the sides of Hop’s hips, he drew small circles into his stomach with his thumb. “Don’t know why you stopped taking your shirt off.” If Raihan could see himself, he would have been able to see the mischievous glint in his own eyes. “Keep going.”

This time, Hop worked with much more haste whether from the fear of disobeying Raihan’s commands, or in an attempt to hurry this along, he pulled the rest of his shirt over his head, his chest now exposed to Raihan who let out a gasp at the sight of him. It’d been way too long he got to see Hop this vulnerable, as just the mere sight of his naked torso enough to send him in a frenzy, but he kept himself in check.

“Damn, babe, you get more beautiful every time I see you.” Raihan leaned into him, kissing Hop right on his collarbone and gaining a rather violent shiver from him when he did so. Every bit of Hop was stiff in his lap, the kid only moving when it was necessary for him, but Raihan did his best not to get too carried away.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t above having a little fun.

“You know, kid, the more I look at you, the more I swear you’re meant for me.” A laugh through his nose, one that made Hop tremble all over again as Raihan started dragging the pads of his fingers along Hop’s chest, across his nipples, back down to his navel. Whether from Raihan’s touches or the chill in the air, Hop’s nipples were hard as he shivered, and Raihan wanted nothing more than to suck against them. Just as he was contemplating doing so, he glanced up to see Hop’s gaze had traveled away from him yet again, now focusing on the better part of the wall right behind him. “I mean, I know you probably don’t think so, but you tellin’ me there ain’t _nothing_ about me that’s better than that little girlfriend of yours?”

At the mention of Gloria, Hop made some sort of strangled, but quiet intake of breath, though he didn’t move, Raihan could feel his tremors come to a standstill as he sat frozen in his lap, and he took the moment Hop was unmoving to lean into him. Dragging the bottom of his mouth up, Raihan let his tongue out to lick and suck parts of his chest, the kid’s skin just as soft as he imagined it would be, and with that scent overwhelming him, Raihan thought he might pass out.

Though he had fallen stiff, Hop made some sort of soft, uncomfortable groan. He didn’t push away, but Raihan could hear him struggling to speak to him and even then, he continued kissing his chest, sucking his nipples, being incredibly careful not to accidentally bite him lest he get carried away. “Sh-she’s better than you.”

At that, Raihan leaned away from him, having indulged a little enough that it placated his desire. Just a little. He shot Hop an amused grin. “She ain’t into you and you know it. That girl’s had her sights set on Piers’s little sister since the day she met her. It’s so obvious, kid, but there ain’t nothing you can do about it.”

It was cruel to bring up that fact, and Raihan knew he’d hit a nerve, Hop’s face gushing red as he pinched his brow, but he finally made eye contact with him again, staring at Raihan more in confusion than anything. “How would you know? You don’t know that. How _could_ you?”

And he had to smirk, because there wasn’t any need in telling Hop he had been following him around for a good while, plenty of time to catch onto the fact that Gloria wasn’t into him, but he’d followed the pair around enough to know how Gloria looked at Marnie. It was the same way Hop looked at Gloria, the same way _Raihan looked at Hop._ These kids really were dumb, their emotions and intentions so glaringly obvious that it drove Raihan crazy how easy they were to figure out sometimes.

But, he just snorted, bouncing Hop up in his lap as he did so, causing him to unintentionally sit back down on his erection when he bounced down, and Hop stiffened up all over again when he did that. “Come on, kid, it’s so obvious. You think other people haven’t noticed? Even Leon picked up on the fact she liked that girl.” Bringing up Leon now was sure to kill his boner, but Raihan didn’t stop, his grin turning into a sneer if anything. “Face it, kid, you’re barking up the wrong tree with that one. She ain’t into you and you _know_ it. Quit lyin’ to yourself, it’ll hurt less.”

“Lee never said anything like that—you’re full of shit.”

Raihan rolled his eyes. Again with this. Hop just refused to see reason, he refused to listen, and he was stubborn as all hell, but Raihan had all night to make sure he understood the reality of the situation.

“Enough about your brother.” When he leaned in, Hop responded by moving back out of instinct, desperate to keep the distance between them, but Raihan wasn’t having it. He sneered at him, their noses so close, Raihan could have just dipped in and kissed him, but he stopped himself. “Why you wanna bring up your brother when we’re about to fuck?” He grinned, not able to help but tease him, even if this was more or less his jealousy coming out than anything. “You attracted to him, kid?”

The color drained of Hop’s face, but not before he shot Raihan a nasty look, brows pinched and all. “That’s _disgusting_ —why would you say that? No, I’m not attracted to my brother!”

Raihan’s shoulders relaxed, not sure why that was relieving to hear, but no—he knew why. If he found out this kid harbored feelings for Leon in any form or fashion, his jealousy would spiral out of control, because he knew Leon. He knew how he didn’t treat Hop any kind of right, and it would kill him if the kid were to chase after someone who didn’t appreciate him. Though, it didn’t do much to quell the memory from before at Wyndon. The image of Leon blushing while he spoke of Hop haunted his damn sleep sometimes.

Still.

He really didn’t know why he was saying this, as maybe it was his teasing trying to overlap his jealousy, but he gave Hop a smirk. “Really?” Leaning back, he pressed his palms against the mattress, allowing Hop more room to move. “Take your pants off.”

The deal was still on, after all. Hop couldn’t refuse him. Well, he could if he really wanted, but Raihan didn’t want things getting out of hand if he could help it. That went for him too.

Hop only shot him another glare, but without much hesitance, began to maneuver his way off Raihan’s lap, only rubbing his dick in the process and causing Raihan to fight to stifle a moan he so desperately wanted to release, but he kept his composure, watching as Hop stood off the bed, peeling the edge of his sweatpants down his legs until he was only clad in his underwear. Again, Hop worked with the only goal in mind to get the clothes off, and he was quite hasty about it, something Raihan wished he would slow down and take his time with, maybe give him a little smile while he teased him, but that wasn’t his reality right now.

Raihan almost sighed. Hop was so bad at this that it was hilarious, but even if he undressed himself in the most unsexiest way possible, Raihan was still hard. Still turned on by him. It didn’t really matter what Hop did, he wanted him and he wanted him now.

With Hop standing there in his underwear, Raihan gave him a slow nod. “Good job, babe. I’m proud of you.” He leaned on his knees with his elbows, gaze never once leaving Hop. “Now the underwear.”

Despite how quickly Hop had taken his bottoms off, he was much more hesitant about the underwear, as Raihan noticed when he grabbed the elastic band to begin sliding them down, he made a very deliberate pause before he even reached his hips.

“Hop?” Raihan wanted nothing more than to help him with it, to pull his underwear down himself, but something in the way Hop was listening to him, giving in because he was desperate for Raihan to let him go—it was turning him on just because it was _Hop_ doing this. He wasn’t putting on a show, he wasn’t as into it as Raihan was, but he was here, he was still listening to him and undressing, and it all went straight to Raihan’s cock as he sat there watching him, not even wanting to blink in case he missed something. “You’re almost there, baby, keep going.”

Letting out a sigh of resignation, Hop’s cheeks gushed red before he slowly pulled the rest of his underwear off, and Raihan gasped at the sight of his cock. It felt like he hadn’t seen Hop completely naked in so long, even though it had only been a few days, but it was like seeing him for the first time, especially now that he was sober and conscious, and every bit of Raihan’s body wanted to leap off the bed, lower himself to his knees, and suck Hop’s cock.

“B-beautiful…”

And he couldn’t help it. Once that word left his mouth, Raihan still staring at him, not able to take his eyes off him, Hop did the most adorable thing—with his cheeks gushing heat, his glasses fogging up from it because he was so embarrassed, he bunched his shoulders up, pinching his brow and looked off to the side. Holy fuck, it was so cute, and Raihan lost a bit of his composure then.

Reaching out, he nabbed Hop’s arm, causing him to let out a small yelp before Raihan pulled him back on the bed. The kid seized up in his hold, not daring to move a muscle as Raihan placed him at the head of the bed, straddling him when he did so. Hop was lying on his back, eyes wide with fear as Raihan bent over, heading for his neck, practically lying on top of him to get at him, and Hop only placed his palms against Raihan’s chest, pushing against him for a moment, before falling lax again. Probably just his instincts, but Raihan was too far gone to reprimand him for it.

The kid flung his head to the side as Raihan went straight for his neck, kissing, sucking, hoping to make as many hickies as possible that wouldn’t disappear for days. He wanted Hop marked from head to toe in his desire, he wanted Hop to know just how crazy he was about him, and with his body pressed down, Raihan having extended his legs somewhat to reach him comfortably, his erection was now pressing down against Hop and he didn’t shy away from thrusting when he could, relieving some of the ache on his end.

“Fuck, baby, you’re so perfect, you know that?” He paused kissing him only to let out a breathy moan, feeling how Hop shivered below him, which only served as more stimulation on his cock, and it was hard—so hard to resist the urge to just fucking—shove it in him. Hold Hop down and fuck him, fuck him until he was screaming for him. Raihan was so overcome with lust that he almost lost sight of himself, trailing his hands down Hop’s stomach, to his hips, before he gripped hold of his cock, and the kid gasped underneath him, one of the few sounds he was making.

But Raihan stopped, finally remembering that he couldn’t get too carried away. If he lost himself, then Hop would win the deal, and he really would have to sit there and admit he was a liar, because he sure as fuck wasn’t about to let him leave. As difficult as it was, as hard as Raihan was aching for him, he slowly pushed himself away from Hop, noting how his neck was glistening from his barrage of kissing, and released his cock as well. It was almost so silent that Raihan didn’t hear, but Hop made a definite exhale of relief when he did that, as he could see it in his body alone when he slumped a bit, having been tense that entire time.

“Damn, baby, you ain’t even got to do _nothing_ and you drive me crazy.” He laughed, pushing himself back onto his knees where he was straddling him before he dragged his fingers down the side of Hop’s face, causing the kid to make the smallest of shivers at the contact. “Lean up for me, will you? I want to try something.”

He hadn’t meant to get so carried away, going at Hop like he had, but kissing him could only stave off Raihan’s true intentions for so long, and he knew right then and there, this would be the last of his demands from Hop. If the kid didn’t break from this, then Raihan might just have to admit he lied if Hop was able to keep his end of bargain. It wasn’t the end of the world if Hop found out he never intended to let him go, but he knew he’d be mad as fuck at him for a long time. It was just something Raihan didn’t really want to deal with was all. If he got Hop to fuck up the deal on his own, he could at least use it as an excuse, as horrible as it was.

That tiny, tiny little voice in the back of his head was crying at him to stop this. Why was he doing this to this poor kid? Why was he subjecting him to this when it was so obvious that he didn’t want it? But, that small guilty voice was completely overshadowed by the even louder voice telling Raihan that he was only teasing him. He wasn’t actually hurting him— _he loved him._ He would never go out of his way to hurt this kid, and this was only harmless fun.

Right?

With Raihan having leaned off of him, sitting back on his knees as he gave the kid some space to lean up, Hop now sitting with his back resting against the headboard, Raihan had a hard time taking his eyes off his cock. If it wasn’t for what he was about to make him do, he would have been holding him down and sucking it right about now, but he had to hold off.

“So, kid—” He offered him a grin, but Hop had long averted his gaze, still focusing his attention on anything but Raihan, but he’d worry about that later. “You’re what—fourteen? Never had a girlfriend, never been intimate with anyone, right?”

Hop’s cheeks only gushed red, but he said nothing.

“Hey, it’s fine, I mean, no big deal. It just means you get to learn about it and like I said, I’m all for being real gentle with you, but I’m sure you’ve touched yourself before, right?”

He tensed, but still, no other movements, no other sounds, just the sight of his reddening cheeks.

Raihan continued. “It’s natural, don’t be shy. Everybody whacks it, kid, it ain’t nothing to be ashamed about.” He was beating around the bush, but Raihan wanted to segway into this a bit more delicately—not that anything about what he was doing was delicate. “Point being, I want you to touch yourself. Show me exactly how you do it.”

The sharp intake of breath Hop made was not unheard, and Raihan’s cock twitched at the sound of it. Even little sounds like that were driving him wild, but the kid was frozen, Raihan wondering if this would be the dealbreaker. Maybe Hop would lose his nerve right here, not wanting to humiliate himself in front of Raihan, but he was prepared for the moment he got to say Hop failed.

He gave him time, waiting for Hop to make a move, not saying another word, but just when he was about to tell him he had fucked up the deal, to his utter surprise, and Hop had been full of surprises this evening, the kid reached into his own lap, grabbed his dick, and gave it a single stroke. Raihan would have been taken aback the kid was still so determined to hold up his end of the bargain had he not been entranced by what he was seeing. Again, Hop was by no means an expert, as he groped himself a bit awkwardly, still avoiding eye contact with Raihan, but he gave himself a few tentative strokes, biting his bottom lip as he held back his own moans.

Raihan’s mouth watered. He wanted nothing more than to suck him off right now, but he kept having to snap himself out of it. The kid was still winning, and he couldn’t let that happen. Well—this was a no-win situation, but Raihan was still hard pressed about making sure Hop was the one who fucked it up, even at the expense of keeping him comfortable, it wasn’t like Raihan was hurting him.

But judging by the way he handled his own cock, Raihan could tell this wasn’t Hop’s first time playing with himself, and that excited him way more than it should have.

“Look at _you_ , babe.” Still somewhat enamored by what he was seeing, Hop stroking himself a bit too slowly for even Raihan’s comfort, he let out a sigh as he leaned forward, moving his legs out from underneath him to sit cross-legged on the bed. It wasn’t much of a show Hop was giving him, but it was the only thing that mattered now.

And yet, even as he sat here watching Hop jerk himself off, a bit of Raihan’s spite surfaced, and maybe it was his jealousy talking, but he wanted to know if Hop was being truthful about not being attracted to his brother.

“You ever think about anyone specific while you’re going at it?” Raihan grinned. “Your older brother, maybe?”

In an instant, Hop stopped, having not even gotten hard yet, but at the mere mention of Leon, he snapped up and glared at Raihan, hand still wrapped around the base of his own cock. “That’s sick—no, I don’t _think about Lee like that._ What the fuck is the matter with you?”

It was amazing how quickly Hop could go from one mood to another, but Raihan’s grin only widened. For him to be so defensive about it, he couldn’t help to keep pushing.

“So, you’re telling me you never once, _not once_ , thought about Leon while you played with yourself?”

Hop only glared, but that was the only answer Raihan needed.

With a soft sigh, he leaned over until he’d placed his chin in his palm, still watching Hop awkwardly sit there with his dick in his hand, and Raihan knew right then what he could make him do so Hop would lose this deal.

“Alright, kid, I believe you. So, prove it to me.” A bit crudely, Raihan lifted his chin from his palm, taking the same hand and made a stroking motion in midair with it as he gave Hop a toothy smile. “Sit there and jerk off while saying Leon’s name. I want you to call out for him, say his nickname, hell, I don’t care.” Again, he lowered his chin to his palm, eyes never once leaving Hop this entire time. “Do it, babe. Call out for your big brother, call his name while you touch yourself.”

The look Hop gave him was burned into his mind the minute it happened. The kid’s entire face fell, his eyes wide, cheeks no longer red, but paling, and his entire body slumped like he was about to pass out, but for that split moment, Raihan got to see the pure shock in his eyes, and it shouldn’t have turned him on the way it did. He wanted Hop to enjoy himself with him, and had this been any other time, had he not been holding a bargain over his head that was setting him up for failure from the start, Raihan might have felt a little guilty at seeing him so stressed, but it only made Raihan want him that much more.

There was something so exhilarating about it. He could worry about Hop’s comfort later, but for now, he was curious if he would actually do it. And even if he did—Raihan was putting a stop to this whole mess before he fucked him.

Slowly, tentative and slow, Hop continued his ministrations, stroking up his length, albeit much, much slower to the point Raihan knew it couldn’t have felt good, and he appeared to be trying to quell his tremors as Raihan saw his legs shaking as he stroked. While that was all well and good, he still wasn’t doing what Raihan told him, namely calling out for Leon. His lips were thinned shut, like he just couldn’t muster the energy to actually do it.

But, Raihan wasn’t going to let him get off the hook that easily. “Come on, kid. You ain’t saying nothing. Whose name you supposed to be calling, huh?”

“L…” The blush returned to his face, Hop choking on his words as he pumped himself, his eyes finally trailing off to some random part of the room, away from Raihan’s leering gaze. “L…Lee…”

_Oh._

Never had Raihan felt such a rush of pleasure dip down right to his cock while simultaneously feeling seething jealousy. His cock twitched at the display Hop was giving him, mumbling his brother’s name as he stroked himself, and even though Raihan knew he had been the one to make him do this, there was something about how uncomfortable Hop looked about it all. Of course, he had never jerked off to his brother before, it was so fucking apparent in the way he looked like he was at a loss for what to do, like—

And Raihan choked on a gasp when Hop grew hard in front of him, still mumbling Leon’s name while he stroked himself. The pleasure he’d felt from earlier was snuffed out just like that at the fact Hop had grown an erection and was still pumping himself.

“You…” Raihan’s throat felt tight, his chest even tighter, and his jealousy peaked, not even bothering to think rationally about this anymore, because all he could think was if Hop really wasn’t attracted to Leon, why was he getting hard to the thought of him?

His palms shook, all his spite and jealousy shooting to the surface.

“You f- _fucking_ —you _do_ have a thing for Leon, don’t you?!” And he was shouting, not meaning to, not meaning when he leaned into Hop, having crawled from his sitting position until he was on his hands and knees, and right in the kid’s face. Hop stopped what he was doing immediately, still obviously very much erect below him, and the back of his head hit the headboard when he flinched away from Raihan.

“I-I’m doing what _you_ told me to, asshole!” His cheeks were gushing heat, the redness so glaringly obvious that Raihan wanted nothing more to do than hunt down that son of a bitch Leon and punch his fucking face.

“Why are you hard, then? You wouldn’t be hard if you weren’t into it, right?” His heart was pounding, Raihan was letting his jealousy get to him, until he was shaking, because this must mean Hop had feelings for Leon. That stupid fucking older brother of his who didn’t even give a damn about him—why else would he get hard? He wasn’t hard before when he played with himself, so why when Raihan made him say Leon’s name did he get off?

“Fuck you!” Hop glared at him, still flattened against the headboard as he tried desperately to keep the distance between them, but Raihan was in his face, yelling at him, about to lose himself, and it was getting harder and harder to control his urges. Fuck this bargain. The fact Hop got hard was an automatic loss for him. Fuck it.

Raihan sucked in a breath, trying to calm himself down, but his heart wouldn’t stop pounding, his palms wouldn’t stop shaking, and it was his jealousy, it was just because he was jealous that Hop had admired his brother for so long while never even noticing Raihan existed—he knew that, but—

“Deal’s off. You fucked up, kid.”

“Wha—” Before Hop could even get the words out, Raihan was on top of him. He gripped hold of his arms, causing Hop to choke and gasp, before he ripped him away from the headboard, flinging him down on the mattress until Hop was flat on his back. “W-wait! What do you mean it’s off? You said—!”

It was so hard to control himself, to resist the urge to fuck him raw. Raihan wanted nothing more to do than shove his cock inside of him, unprepared, no lubricant, but he couldn’t. As badly as his heart was pounding right now, as badly as his lust was to the point he was almost salivating, he couldn’t risk hurting the kid like that, even if he was jealous. Even if he did get hard because he was thinking about his _stupid fucking **brother**._

“I changed my mind.”

“What?!” Hop began to thrash, even as Raihan held him down by his arms, lowering himself until he was right above the kid’s clavicle, and he kissed him. “Fuck you! You told me if I did this, you’d let me go home!”

Raihan snorted through his nose, still kissing Hop’s chest as the kid began to wriggle beneath him, but with the way Raihan had his body pressed against him, there wasn’t much Hop could do other than flail around. “Well, change of plans. You ain’t going nowhere anytime soon. Fucking want to get off to the thought of your stupid brother when he never even gave a damn about you?”

“I _DON’T_ LIKE LEE LIKE THAT!” Hop raised his legs, trying to knee Raihan and get him off, but he only pressed himself further against his body, until Hop was almost buried beneath him. “GET OFF!”

“You may as well calm down, because I’m still fucking you whether you want me to or not.” Lifting himself from Hop’s chest, the beginning signs of hickies forming just below his clavicle, Raihan huffed out an annoyed sigh. “I could always drug you, though. Don’t make this harder on yourself, kid.”

“FUCK YOU, RAIHAN—FUCK YOU!” Hop was growing desperate, he could tell, the way that he was thrashing below him, rocking his body back and forth, it was almost sad how Raihan could hold him down with barely any effort at all. The stark contrast of their body differences was apparent now more than ever as Raihan could completely cover him with his frame alone if he wanted. Hop could do nothing to fight him off, and he had to know that. Even as he fought below him, Raihan holding his arms down by his wrists, he glared up at him, Raihan able to feel the resistance in every limb, see the desperation in his movements alone, and still, Raihan could bend over, suck his neck, gain a violent shiver from Hop as he did so, and the kid was going absolutely nowhere.

“Stop! Get the fuck off me!” Hop attempted to push at him, but Raihan only kissed his throat harder, causing the kid to slam his head to the side to avoid Raihan trying to kiss his mouth if he so chose. “You’re a fucking liar! I did what you told me to—I- _I was doing what you told me to!_ ”

Raihan leaned off him when he stopped mouthing his neck for a moment only to speak. “If you’re going to sit there and get off to that stupid brother of yours, that’s only more reason to keep you here with me.” He sighed, trying not to let his frustration and irritation drive him, but fuck, was it hard. “I just wish you’d understand, Hop—that guy doesn’t appreciate you.”

“Shut up! You’re crazy! You-you’re a fucking freak, Raihan!” Well, he wasn’t lying, at least, but even Raihan couldn’t muster the energy to feel the ironic humor in Hop’s words. All he did was lower himself back down and sucked his throat. With the way he had his body pressed against him, Raihan could feel Hop’s cock digging into him, and noticed how even after all this, Hop was still hard. Hop continued yelling above him. “I want to go home! You can’t just do this to me and not expect someone to come looking for me! They’re going to find you—they’re going to find me, and then everyone’s going to know what a fucking _pervert_ you are!”

“So, let ‘em.” While he knew Hop had every right to be pissed as shit at him, it didn’t stop Raihan from gripping his wrists harder, making sure Hop wasn’t going anywhere as he kissed his neck, trailed down to his chest, right above his navel where he pressed several kisses to Hop’s stomach, feeling the muscle quiver below when it probably tickled. “Nobody’s ever going to find you here, kid, so you may as well get used to it.” He lifted his head only to shoot Hop a smile as the kid’s breathing turned erratic. “And you may as well get used to me, cause I ain’t goin’ nowhere either. Face it—this is your home now.”

“F-fuck you.” The quake in Hop’s voice didn’t go by unnoticed, and Raihan only moved back to his stomach, giving him more kisses and sucking random spots here and there. “Y-you’re crazy. Why are you doing this—I don’t understand—you can’t _do this to me, Raihan._ ” Every time Hop said his name, Raihan chuckled in the back of his throat. It felt _so good_ to hear him say his name, he didn’t know why that turned him on, but it did. “I just want to go home. Why can’t you just let me go home?”

Hop’s struggles were lessening more and more as Raihan pressed against him, having spent this entire time simply indulging in kissing him, lowering himself a bit more each time he felt Hop give a little beneath him. It’d be much easier to suck his cock when he wasn’t thrashing above him, but Raihan was more or less making sure he tuckered himself out with this as it’d be easier for him down the road too.

When he was forced to lean back a bit to reach the lower part of Hop’s body, Raihan let out a sigh as he stared up at his face through lidded eyes. Hop’s cheeks were flushed, his brow knitted, but he looked so exhausted in that moment, chest rising and falling, his arms and legs trembling once more. Raihan knew he was only pretending to be tough, but his true nature was shining through the more he dragged this out. If only Hop had complied from the beginning. Hell, if only Hop had noticed all those years Raihan pined after him, they wouldn’t be in this mess. Not that Raihan regretted doing this in the slightest. He may have had his reservations about it at first, unsure what the fuck he planned to do, but with Hop lying naked below him, still hard, Raihan noticed, his struggles dying away the longer he kept him here, despite his jealousy, Raihan knew more than anything he just wanted to keep him.

He wanted to keep Hop forever. He wanted to hold him, kiss him, bury his face in his hair and tell him how much he loved him. He wanted Hop to love him back, to finally realize how Raihan, and only Raihan, was the only person who ever cared about him from the start.

That was such a far-off dream, but Raihan hoped it could be reality one day. It was enough to make a small smile appear, and he hardly realized it until his mouth curled.

“If I’m honest with you, kid, I’m surprised you never realized how I felt about you.” Even though Raihan wasn’t the most open with his emotions. He wasn’t the type to outwardly display his affections for someone, being more the closet pervert type, but when it came to Hop, he—he sighed, lifting off of him when he was sure Hop wasn’t going to struggle, and lowering himself until he was right in front of his cock. All throughout this entire spill, Hop was still hard, and Raihan felt an awful pang of resentment at the fact Hop had given it to himself by thinking about Leon, but he quickly bit down those thoughts. “I didn’t just decide to do this on a whim. I’ve wanted you for a long, long time. Can’t tell you how long, but you think all those times I came to your house when you were a kid I wasn’t eyeballing you?” He lifted his head, just enough to see the look of abhorrent horror on Hop’s face, but he offered him a smile. “You were so adorable. You’re _still_ adorable. Kid, I’ve felt this way for years, so there’s no _fucking way_ I’m letting you go now. You’ll get used to it in time, but you’re stuck with me. And I don’t plan on ever letting you go.”

With that said, without waiting for Hop to respond, to react, Raihan lowered his head, taking Hop’s cock into his mouth. The split moment he went down on him, Hop seized up, enough that Raihan felt it was safe to release his wrists. He attempted to go slow, as much as he was aching to take him down all the way until he’d had the entirety of him in his mouth, Raihan bobbed back up, feeling the kid shiver beneath him. His legs were wracked with violent tremors, his whole body, though frozen, seemed like it was working into overdrive as Raihan went back over him, being careful not to let his teeth accidentally scrape his cock.

The moment Hop moaned above him, Raihan released both wrists entirely, wrapping his arms around his thighs instead, hoisting Hop up to better reach him. Raihan was almost bent over in two, being mindful of every single little noise that Hop was making whether it was a tremor from his limbs, or the breathy moans he was making, but every one of those noises only served to indulge Raihan’s own pleasure. Raihan was hard—he’d been hard this entire time, but now that he was on top of him, sucking off Hop, gaining a bit of speed, and even feeling the kid _thrust up into his mouth_ , he was about to go crazy wanting to be inside of him already.

He had taken enough time trying to make sure Hop was comfortable, but with the way he swore off the deal, Raihan knew there was no doing that anymore. If his moans were anything to go off of, Hop sounded more uncomfortable than anything, even though Raihan wanted to think he was just trying to hold back the urge to really let loose and moan, but even throughout Hop’s trembling, Raihan could feel the way he’d stiffened underneath him, and only when he gained speed, bobbing up and down on his cock, letting his tongue out to lap over the tip, he could hear Hop trying desperately to quiet himself.

It made him happier than it should, to know Hop was deriving pleasure from this, as much as he bitched and moaned about it, but Raihan knew once he got him like this, Hop would enjoy it. As Raihan went up and down, deliberately dragging his tongue along his length, he felt Hop’s hands nab a bit of his hair, and he gave a squeeze. The feeling went straight to Raihan’s cock, trying not to lose himself before he made Hop come, but the fingers left his hair all too soon, and Raihan was thrown off when Hop suddenly bolted up, leaned back on his elbows, and slapped him straight across the face.

Raihan sputtered, having to catch himself before he accidentally bit into his dick out of reflex, and he pulled off him, coughing, eyes watering, cheek stinging, and trying to gain his composure. If he hadn’t been in shock at the fact he almost bit Hop’s dick, he would have gathered a sedative to knock him out for it, but instead he glared at him, Hop’s eyes shining with the gravity of what he’d just done, as though he hadn’t realized by doing that, he almost hurt himself.

“Do you _want_ me to bite your dick off?! What the fuck, kid?!” Reaching forward out of instinct, Raihan gripped his arms, pulling him close. The look in Hop’s eyes said it all—he was horrified. Raihan spoke, not with any intent to do this sort of thing to Hop, but just to scare him into compliance. This was so much easier before he called the deal off. “Keep that shit up and I’m going to tie you up. Don’t fuckin’ test me, kid. I’ll tie your wrists to the headboard and fuck you so hard you won’t _walk straight for days._ I’ll go in dry, too. You wanna find out how bad that can hurt? _Don’t. Fucking. Fight me._ ”

It was just a scare tactic. Just something to force Hop into calming down. He didn’t need the kid getting flighty on him now of all times, but the way Hop looked at him alone, his eyes wide with fear, his body having grown so stiff that he wasn’t even shaking anymore, and Raihan was pretty sure he would comply. Releasing his arms, Raihan’s own heartbeat that was ringing in his ears was slowing down to a dull thump, and he gave Hop one last, narrow-eyed stare that said he was _completely fucking serious_ before he bent back over, taking Hop’s erection into his mouth once more.

The reaction was immediate. Instead of pulling at his hair again, Hop fisted the covers beneath him, letting out a strangled moan as he did so. Raihan tasted precum as he bobbed up, sucking him with vigor, keeping Hop in place with one hand gripped underneath his thigh. He tried not to grab him too hard, just in case he bruised, but a part of him wanted to see Hop covered in as many bruises as possible, just for there to be proof that they did this.

Raihan wanted to see him marked from head to toe with his love.

With Hop quieted above him, Raihan could hear the small sounds of his moans escaping, could hear the way his breath hitched in his throat as he tried so hard not to make any sounds, but he was failing miserably. It wasn’t long that he was thrusting up into his mouth once more, until Raihan had to match his movements to create a rhythm, until they were moving in unison. Every time he bobbed down, Hop would thrust up, moaning as he did so, and it made Raihan elated, absolutely elated that the kid was getting into this, whether it was his intention to or not.

Then, with a final thrust into his mouth, Hop let out a gasp, a wonderful—beautiful array of moans seeping out when he did so. Raihan had to resist the urge to grab his own dick through his shorts, wanting to jerk off to the sounds Hop was making alone, but he held back. He was hard, he was so hard for him, and with Hop writhing beneath him, his cum spurted out into his mouth, Raihan swallowing every last bit of it. He licked any remainder away from Hop’s cock as the kid began to quiet down below him, his face flushed, his body having fallen lax after his spasming, and Raihan finally leaned up, not able to help the smile on his face.

He was beautiful.

Fucking.

 _Beautiful_.

Leaning over, pressing himself down over him, Raihan gripped Hop by the sides of his face, his fingers spread out to hold every bit of him he could, and he kissed him. His mouth was warm, along with the heat he could feel gushing from his face, but Raihan held onto him like Hop might blow away if he didn’t, he kissed him with gusto, hoping if nothing else, the kid would understand his feelings through this action alone. His tongue came out, licking Hop’s teeth, his lips, trying to engage him to tongue him back, but he didn’t. That was okay, though. Raihan was too lost in his euphoria to really give a shit whether Hop kissed him back or not.

When he leaned back, Raihan let out a soft sigh of contentment. Hop looked so spent below him, still in a haze from his orgasm, and he lay there, breathing hard, his lips glistening from Raihan’s eagerness, and Raihan gripped hold of his thigh again as he gave him a soft pat. “You’re so beautiful, babe. I can’t get enough of you.” Rutting his hips against him, Raihan grinded his erection against Hop’s leg, gaining a sharp gasp from below when he did so. Offering him a reassuring smile, Raihan only patted his thigh again. “Don’t be scared. If you’re a good boy and lie there for me, I’ll make sure it won’t hurt, okay?” In one swift motion, he grabbed Hop’s glasses, pulling them off his face before folding them neatly, and placing them on the bedside table to get them out of the way. Raihan leaned off his legs just enough to reach into his bedside drawer, fishing out his bottle of lube when he did so.

Hop was slowly coming to, as Raihan watched his face that was relaxed from his haze begin to tense up again, his lidded eyes widening. “R-Rai…han…” All too soon, Raihan could feel the quiver of his legs as he fit himself back between him, enough that Hop couldn’t close his thighs. He was spread, giving Raihan all the access he needed before he squirted a liberal amount of lube onto his fingers.

He gave him another smile. “Just relax, babe. I’ll be gentle. Promise.”

Hop’s lip quivered, his cheeks reddening until he rested his gaze elsewhere. Anywhere but Raihan. “Pl-please let me go.”

“Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be okay.” He gave his thigh a reassuring squeeze. “You’ll be happy here, Hop. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.” Gently as he could, Raihan inserted one finger, gaining a hiss from Hop when he did so, the kid growing stiff as a board underneath him.

“I just-I want to go home. Pl-please.”

Another finger, and he stretched, scissoring him back and forth, making sure he coated the outer edges and his inner walls with as much of the lubricant as possible. “You _are_ home.”

A sob bubbled from Hop’s throat, even as Raihan inserted three fingers into him, being as gentle as he could while he stretched him back and forth, trying to loosen him up enough to take him. “Wh-what’s it going to take for you to let me go?” Hop’s arm came up then, covering his face as Raihan fingered him, only making a groan of discomfort when he did so. “I just want to go home. I don’t want to be here.”

Raihan sighed, stretching him back and forth, hoping through his efforts that Hop was as comfortable as he could be given the situation, but he tried to stretch him as far out as possible, enough that he wouldn’t be in pain when he finally put his cock in. “I don’t know what to tell you, kid. You’re just gonna have to get used to it.” Lifting his head, Raihan smiled at him, despite how Hop’s face was covered by his arm and he couldn’t see him. He gave a gentle pat to the side of his leg. “Come on, kid, you’ll love it. You’re going to realize sooner or later that your so-called friends and family didn’t appreciate you like you deserve.” He exhaled, not realizing he’d been holding his breath, his eyes trailing back down as he moved his fingers in and out, the lube making a squelching sound when he did so. His opposite hand trailed to his own shorts, Raihan pulling the elastic down over his aching erection when he did so.

Hop stiffened under him again when he removed his fingers, bringing up the bottle of lube to squirt an entire handful in his palm before he stroked up and down his own cock, Raihan not able to stifle his moans as he did so. It felt good to finally be giving himself a little attention, but if he got carried away, he might come embarrassingly fast, and there was no way he was doing that before fucking Hop.

Gripping his cock by the base, Raihan fitted himself up against Hop, shoving the tip right against his entrance.

Hop shivered underneath him, but didn’t move, only made a small, quieted sob.

There wasn’t much else Raihan could do for him. He knew nothing he said would offer him any comfort right now, and while the things he often said to him weren’t true, only a means to force Hop into compliance because he knew it was the only way to calm him down other than drugging him, he still felt guilty.

Guilty for having him lie there like this, covering his face, sobbing in despair, shivering underneath him. Raihan had wanted him to come willingly. He wanted Hop to want this, to love him back, to climb in his lap and tease him until Raihan was pudding underneath him. Nothing would make him happier than having Hop smile up at him one day, hold him, kiss him, tell him how badly he wanted him, how he had always loved Raihan.

But he sighed. More to himself. That would never happen. It was useless to feel guilty about what he was doing when he was already ignoring it in favor of his own gratification. It was useless trying to convince himself Hop would love him eventually, whether of his own accord, or through serendipitous means, Raihan didn’t care.

He just—

He bit his lip, right as he pushed the tip of his cock into Hop, gaining a violent shiver below him when he did so, until Raihan had pushed about half his length inside.

He just wanted to love this kid like he deserved, whether he accepted Raihan or not, he just wanted to love him.

Now that he was inside of Hop, Raihan trembled, gripping hold of his thighs to keep Hop in place when he shifted below him uncomfortably. It was so hard to hold back on fucking him raw right now, but he slid in easily, and Raihan hoped that meant his efforts to prepare him were successful.

“Does it—ah—” Raihan pulled back a bit, only stimulating himself all the more, and sucked in air between his teeth. “Does it hurt, kid?”

Hop said nothing, only continued covering his face as he lay there, as he lay underneath Raihan, and he assumed this meant there was no pain. At least—his only point of reference was to the night he drugged Hop, and he had been screaming then when Raihan got too eager. He was only shivering below him, not moving much, but also not saying anything either.

With no response, Raihan was just going to assume it meant Hop was fine, and he gripped his thigh to steady himself. “Okay. Holler at me if it hurts. I mean it.” He would hold back, Raihan knew he could control himself enough that Hop wasn’t completely wrecked below him.

Still no response, but Raihan took that as his cue to pull out, barely removing the tip from Hop’s ass before he thrusted back in, going a little further than halfway this time. Hop grunted below him, being rocked back against the headboard, and while he was definitely cringing, there were still no cries of pain. Raihan could only go on his body language alone, so he kept his rhythm steady and slow, as painful as it was for him to sit there and thrust at this crawling pace, he had to do it for Hop.

“Mm— _babe_.” Each time he pulled out, Raihan thrusted in a bit deeper than before, wondering if Hop could feel how hard he was trying to ease him into it until he could take his full cock. “Y-you feel so good, you know that? Fuck—so good.” The sounds of his own moans were embarrassing, but he couldn’t help himself. Hop made him irrational, Hop made him lose himself, and he didn’t care one bit how low he stooped, how far gone he was.

As long as he was with Hop, it didn’t matter.

Raihan thrusted into him with more force each time he pulled out, gaining speed, being as deliberate with his movements as possible so as not to scare Hop. The kid was bouncing below him, rocking back in time with every one of Raihan’s thrusts, a slew of grunts still come out that was driving Raihan fucking insane.

“K-kid.” His orgasm was creeping, but Raihan was no stranger to edging himself. Now that he was inside of Hop, his desire being stroked in more ways than one, it would be easier to control himself from going too crazy with his thrusting.

Hop didn’t respond, only lie there as Raihan rocked into him.

“C-come on, kid.” Raihan reached over, using the hand that wasn’t propping Hop’s thighs up to grip hold of his arm as gently as he could. “I want you to look at me.” Another thrust up into him, one that made Hop grunt, but Raihan kept going, not able to keep the composure in his voice any longer. “Y-you can do it, Hop, come on. Look at me.”

He gave his arm a squeeze, maybe a bit too harsh if he was being honest, but Raihan was going mad with the idea he would lose it if Hop looked at him. All he wanted was to see his eyes. He wanted Hop to watch while he fucked him, while he pounded into him.

The squelching noises from all the lube he’d used would have made him laugh, but Raihan hoped by using so much meant Hop was as comfortable as he could be, or at least—not in pain. He wasn’t bleeding, not that Raihan could tell, and his cheeks were gushing red, even noticeable beneath his arm, even as he trembled below him, but Raihan wanted to think Hop was enjoying this. If just a little.

Just when he was about to open his mouth and ask him again to look at him, Hop lowered his arm, eyes slammed shut, tears spilling in a thin line down the side of his face and into his hair, causing Raihan to reach up with his thumb, dragging it across and smearing them away.

“Don’t cry, baby. Tell me if it hurts. I don’t want to hurt you. I’m not doing this to hurt you.” As if to reiterate, Raihan stopped his motions, resting his cock all the way to the base inside of Hop, and the kid seemed to realize that fact as he began quivering beneath him. Raihan, as slowly as he could to avoid tearing anything inside of him, bent over, giving Hop a kiss to his mouth. His lips were oddly cold, and Raihan took the hand he was using to wipe his tears to instead cup the side of his face. “Hop?”

He cringed, gritting his teeth as he did so, as he sucked in a small breath.

“Look at me.”

Another kiss, Raihan dragging his bottom lip up from Hop’s mouth to trail to the side of his face, giving him a soft kiss to his cheek as well. “Please, babe?”

He didn’t think Hop would comply, not with the steady stream of tears still falling, not with his teeth grit and his cheeks on fire, but slowly, way too slowly, Hop opened his eyes, glancing up at Raihan, the whites of his eyes just shy of being bloodshot.

Hop was beautiful, way too beautiful for Raihan to ignore, and he kissed him against his mouth once more. “You’re doing good, baby.” He smiled at him. “You’re doing so good for me.”

His only response was the sound of Hop choking back a sob, his eyes trailing away from Raihan to focus on the ceiling. It was fine—at least, Raihan wouldn’t demand he watch him the entire time, not when he was balls-deep inside his ass right now.

With his orgasm creeping all the more, Raihan pulled out, picking back up speed as he went at him. It was harder and harder to control his grunts, as he wasn’t the most audible when he fucked, but when it came to Hop, Raihan just couldn’t help being vocal for him. Hop hadn’t covered his face back up, but he lay there, staring up at the ceiling, a continuous line of tears falling, and Raihan was so overcome by him in that moment.

Hop was gorgeous. So fucking gorgeous. He belonged here with Raihan—with someone who actually cared about him. He was much better off with him in the tower, and Raihan wouldn’t rest until this kid realized how much he loved him. He wasn’t planning to let him go—he hadn’t wanted to from the beginning and in a way, it was a blessing in disguise that Hop’s blindfold had fallen off.

Raihan never wanted to give him back. And now, he never intended to.

Hop was going to stay here with him. Forever.

With his eyes lidded, a small smile curling on his face, Raihan reached over as he thrusted in and out of him, gripping hold of Hop’s cock to pump him. Hop tensed below, growing stiff, but without protest.

“I-it’s okay, baby, don’t worry.” Raihan tried his best to quell any worries he might have, any reservations that Raihan was still out to hurt him, when he wasn’t. Hop had to know that, right?

This was crazy. Raihan knew all he had done was crazy, he knew it was low of him to trick Hop into having sex with him by lying about letting him go, but he didn’t care. Hop was underneath him now, moaning, trying his hardest to stifle every sound that seeped out, but Raihan wished he would let it all out for him. He wanted to hear him. He wanted to hear every sound Hop was willing to make just for him.

Raihan pumped him, a pleasing smile forming when Hop grew hard in his hand. His palm was still coated with the remnants of the lubricant, so it only served to heighten his pleasure where he wouldn’t rub him raw at least.

“Feels good?” Raihan thrust, going faster and faster, about to lose himself, but not before Hop came with him. He wanted the both of them to do this together. And with the way Hop was hard in his hand yet again, he had no doubt he would come too fast. Raihan let out a laugh through his nose as he fought to keep the quakes from his own voice. “Y-you can say so, Hop, it’s just me here.” He closed his eyes, momentarily lost in his own lust as he fucked into Hop over and over, the kid rocking below him in time with every one of his movements.

Hop gripped the blanket below, even as Raihan held onto his thigh to hoist him up, his opposite hand pumping him, no doubt overstimulating him to the point Hop was writhing. His moans were choked, but audible, and Raihan drank up every bit of it.

He was close, but not close enough. Hop was thrusting up against his hand, pleasing Raihan to no end with his participation, whether or not he was doing it on purpose was irrelevant. Raihan wanted to think he was so overcome with all the feelings Raihan was giving him, so overcome with his lust that he was just shy about his true feelings. Maybe Hop was more degenerate than he realized, but Raihan knew the truth.

Hop was a sweet kid. He was bubbly, optimistic, and could be a bit shy on rare occasions, but Raihan loved everything about him. He felt like he was the only one allowed to see Hop at his lowest, bearing witness to his outbursts that, while Raihan was the cause of it, was something he was also elated to see. It was like these were secrets sides to Hop he wanted nobody to know about, should they shun him for not being perfect, but Raihan didn’t mind.

He loved that about him. He loved everything about Hop.

“Kid…” With a breathy grunt, Raihan thrust against him, feeling Hop’s cock twitch in his hand as he stroked him in time with his thrusts. Hop only gripped the blankets beneath him harder. “S-say my name, kid. Do it.” The hand that was wrapped around Hop’s thigh squeezed, and he was losing himself, little by little, Raihan could feel himself going over the edge. “B-babe, call out for me.”

Hop grit his teeth, gripping the blankets as he was rocked into over and over, but when Raihan thought he might clamp his mouth shut altogether, he was surprised when he looked over at him, and Hop’s mouth quivered as he fought to part his lips.

“R…Rai…” He slammed his eyes again, more tears falling, but the blush on his cheeks was more obvious than ever. “Rai…han…” Hop swallowed, choking on it when he did, where Raihan could hear the audible sound of his throat clenching around it. “R-Raihan…”

Raihan sucked in air, moaning when he did so, when he thrust all the way to the base of his cock. “That’s it, baby. Moan for me. Tell me you like it. Tell me how much I fill you up.” Another thrust, Raihan almost coming when he did so. “S-say you like it.” He was going to fucking lose it any second now, if Hop didn’t come first, Raihan certainly was at his limit now.

“I…”

Oh… _ohohohoh_ —Raihan sucked in air. _Say it. **Fucking** say it._ He was fucking into Hop so hard now, he was going to come any second.

“Raihan…”

_There it was._

“I…I like it…”

“ _Fuck_ —” Raihan stroked Hop’s cock until the kid spasmed below him, cum spurting out against his palm, and Raihan lost all his composure. Gripping him by his thighs way too hard, digging his nails into him when his orgasm finally hit its peak, Raihan came all inside him, feeling his cum gush out, and he gasped, huffing out gulps of air as he thrusted into him again and again. Hop only made a small yelp below him when Raihan gripped him too hard, but it must have mixed with his pleasure, because the kid’s back arched, his legs wrapping around Raihan when he did— _like he was trying to pull him in as far as Raihan could go,_ gasping and riding his own orgasm out—until he finally quieted.

Raihan sat with his cock buried deep inside him, breathing heavy, spent, fucking exhausted from edging himself for so long, but satisfied. He’d never felt so satisfied in his entire life, not with anyone. Fucking nobody else could do this but Hop. Only Hop could make him feel this way.

“K-kid…” With his breaths still gasping out in droves, Raihan lifted off him enough to loom over him, loving the way Hop was flopped back against the mattress, his eyes lidded, his body lax underneath him, every muscle spent from that, Raihan could tell. And he bent over him, gripping Hop’s chin in his hand before giving him a kiss.

Hop didn’t kiss back, but it was okay. It was okay, because—

“Love you…” Raihan kissed him again, like he was starving for him. Hop’s scent was invading his mind, fogging his brain, indulging every one of his senses until Raihan felt like a piece of himself that had been missing this whole time was right back where it belonged. “I-I love you so much, baby. _Fuck_ — _I-I **love** you._”

It was the point of no return. Raihan had never planned to give Hop back from the beginning, but the longer he kept him, the longer he held onto him, the more kisses he planted to his mouth, his cheeks, his nose, anywhere he could kiss him right now, Raihan kissed, the more he wanted to keep him forever.

Raihan almost wanted to cry at how happy he was, how happy this kid made him. How was it possible for someone to make him feel this good? It had to mean Hop was meant for him. They were meant for each other, this whole time, all those years Raihan spent watching him from afar, fantasizing, fantasizing about whisking him away where they could be together, and now it was reality. He had Hop locked up in the tower with him, where nobody knew where he was, nobody suspected Raihan, and he didn’t plan to let him go.

Hop was going to be with him, right where he _belonged_. Right here. With Raihan.

As gently as he could, he pulled out of him, some of his cum dripping from Hop’s bottom when he did so and Raihan felt a little bad he was probably going to have a lot more to deal with by tomorrow, but hopefully it wouldn’t be too bad. Hop could handle it, after all. He was resilient.

“B-babe.” He was so exhausted, having wanted to stand and shower, but Raihan just couldn’t be bothered to do that right now. They’d made a mess and while it wasn’t ideal for him to sleep in his own mess, it could be dealt with tomorrow. Hop looked ready to nod off any minute, his eyes lidded, but Raihan lifted off him, pulling the covers back for the both of them where he settled down, ushering Hop to follow. “Come on. Lie next to me.”

Without protest, without a word to him, Hop obeyed, pulling himself up enough to get under the covers with him, and Raihan lay on his side, pulling Hop back until he was pressed right against him, Raihan’s crotch nestled right against his bottom. He inhaled the scent of his hair that was under his nose, noting how Hop still smelled like whipped cream, even after all that, and he wrapped his arm around him, giving him a hug as he buried his face into his hair, not shying away from applying kisses when he could.

“You’re so beautiful, baby. You’re so good to me— _fuck_ , you’re perfect. I love you so much.” His consciousness was fading fast, because Raihan was so comfortable right now. The haze of his orgasm was fading, but it lingered, allowing him to close his eyes as he rested his cheek against the top of Hop’s head.

The whole while, Hop didn’t say a word to him. Didn’t move once he was settled against Raihan’s front. All he could hear was the steady breathing Hop made when he curled up.

Raihan was warm, the person he loved wrapped up in his arms, and the both of them were safe. Nobody knew where Hop was, nobody would come looking for him here, and Raihan got to keep him all to himself. Hop was _his_. And he would make damn sure he realized that one way or another.

With a final, tired sigh, Raihan almost criminally comfortable, he drifted off to sleep, Hop having fallen asleep in his arms, the scent of Hop’s shampoo lingering in the air, and the last thing Raihan remembered before he fell asleep was smiling.

He was so _happy_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for your support. ;-; i wouldn't have kept writing this fic if it wasn't for you guys. thank you! see you next chapter~


	8. Chapter 8

Raihan frowned at the sound of the victory fanfare exploding in front of his face. Though not for him, but for Leon. In a wash of multicolored ribbons and banners, the television in front of them pulled up Leon’s profile as the winner, and his friend set his controller down onto the floor in front of him, shooting his fist up in the air with a few whoops and hollers.

Raihan had lost while playing video games to him. Again. Honestly, he should have been used to this by now, but it never failed, whether they were having a Pokémon battle or duking it out in a fighting game, he had a bitter taste appear in the back of his throat. Is that what they meant by the bitter taste of defeat? He had no idea it was literal, but he set his controller down as well, not very interested in having his ass kicked any further. Try as he might to play it cool, he couldn’t stomach much more of Leon’s cheers next to him and he eventually scooted away from the telly.

Leon finally caught the hint and quieted, shooting Raihan an expected stare. “You’re done playing already?”

Raihan shrugged, shoving his hands into his hoodie as he leaned back against the side of Leon’s bed. The pair had been sitting on the floor in front of the television, going at Leon’s new fighting game for the better part of thirty minutes, but Raihan had lost every match against him. He wasn’t exactly huge on playing video games in the first place, but it was one of the few things he did anytime he’d come over to Leon’s house to hang out. It’d only been four years since their gym challenger days, and both boys were fourteen now, Leon usually too busy with his champion duties to really hang out with him anymore, so Raihan took what he could get. Even if it meant losing to him this way, it was better than dealing with the fact he’d probably never be able to beat Leon in a Pokémon match and take his title from him. He could still dream though.

So, he shrugged, slouching in his seat. “Yeah. Not really fun when I’m always losing to you.”

Leon frowned, pinching his brow. “I’m sorry, mate.”

“Nah, don’t be. Just gives me more incentive to come kick your ass.”

At that, Leon’s frown lifted into a smile and he gave Raihan a playful punch to his arm. “Can’t wait.” Standing from his spot, Leon reached up toward the ceiling, stretching his back as he did so, popping a few bones in the process. “Be right back.” With that, he strode from his room down the hall where Raihan could hear him close himself off in the bathroom.

Slouching even further in his seat, Raihan let out a defeated sigh, leaning his head against the back of Leon’s bed and staring up at the ceiling. They used to hang out all the time when they were kids. Well one could argue they still were children, only being fourteen, but Raihan swore times were simpler back then. Leon was champion, hardly had the time to spare to hang out with Raihan anymore, while Raihan was about to become a gym leader himself, a responsibility he was _not at all_ ready for—and it was overwhelming.

He shouldn’t have taken days like this for granted, but he missed being ten and getting to hang out with Leon a lot more. Things had been a bit strained between them ever since Leon became champion, Raihan could tell, even if he tried not to let it get to him, there was no denying his jealousy for all that Leon had accomplished when Raihan had been right there next to him, succeeding along with him just to fail at the very last battle.

Ugh. Thoughts like that only made him depressed, and Raihan settled down in his seat, getting comfortable, but a shuffle from the doorway brought him from his thoughts.

“Lee?”

That tiny voice didn’t go by unnoticed and Raihan lowered his head back to see Leon’s little brother peeking from around the doorway, apparently searching for Leon.

Immediately, a smile appeared on Raihan’s face and he gave him a wave. Hop was always rather shy around him, as Raihan figured being as young as he was, he was intimidated by this older boy in the house, but he always tried to ease his worries by being warm and welcoming (at least when Leon wasn’t around). “Your brother just went to the bathroom. Whatcha need?”

Hop was so adorable, sometimes Raihan had the urge to scoop him up and hold onto him. He was just so unlike Leon, it was insane. Leon was more confident, proud, and charismatic to a fault, but Hop was reserved, shy, still only a child figuring things out, and he took a tentative step into Leon’s room, hugging onto himself like he was doing something he wasn’t supposed to be. He shuffled from one foot to another, fiddling with the hem of his shirt and looked off to the side away from Raihan. _Ughhhhhh_ —he was so cute. Half the time Raihan wondered if he only came here to see Hop instead of Leon, but he didn’t think too hard on it. It’d be embarrassing to gush about Leon’s little brother, and honestly a little weird, so he always tried to keep himself in check when he was around him, ignoring him if he absolutely had to, despite how he didn’t want to.

“U-um, Mum said lunch is ready.”

Raihan let out an over the top sigh, rubbing his stomach as he did so. “Finally, I’m starving!” He gave Hop a wink as he held his hand up to his forehead, pretending to be faint from hunger. “Your brother starves me to death anytime I come over here! I’m dying, Hop.”

The dramatics must’ve been working, because he could tell Hop was unfolding from himself somewhat, and even let out a little giggle at Raihan’s display. He loved making Leon’s brother laugh. He had the cutest little bubbly laugh that made Raihan’s chest swell with warmth. It sucked that the only times Raihan could really be this silly with him was when Leon wasn’t around, but he didn’t squander the opportunity _at all._

Hop bounced up, a bit more confident when he stepped closer, a smile starting to form on his face. “No, don’t die, Raihan!”

Leaning back even further, Raihan slouched until he was practically folded in half, still holding his hand to his forehead. “No, it’s too late for me, Hop. I’m too famished to continue. Oh, the pain…” He gave a fake cough, sliding down into the floor until he was completely on his back, and Hop bounded over to him, sinking to his knees before nudging him in the side.

“Don’t die in Lee’s room!”

“Shh, don’t talk to me, I’m dead.” Raihan opened one eye before catching Hop’s and immediately closing it again.

“Are not!”

“Yes, I am quite dead.”

“If you’re so dead, how are you talking?”

“Ventriloquism.”

“What’s that?”

Raihan snorted through his nose, flattening out on his back even more until he had both arms crossed over his chest to appear even more dead. He’d better hope Leon was going to take his sweet time in the bathroom, because he wouldn’t be able to live it down if he caught him teasing his little brother like this. Raihan always got embarrassed letting it be known how he could let go of his pride for a few minutes to entertain the kid. Seeing him laugh and let his defenses down around him made it all worth it.

“I’ll tell you when I’m alive again.”

Hop giggled and nudged him again, pushing at his arm to no avail. “You could tell me now! Come on, I wanna know.”

Though Raihan’s eyes were closed, he could already tell Hop was pouting and his cheeks gushed heat at it, but he fought to keep himself from smiling so hard, biting his bottom lip. “Maybe if a beautiful princess gave me a kiss, it would bring me back to life and I could tell them what that word means.”

He could hear Hop let out a defeated sigh before he made a whine of disappointment. “There’s no princesses around here.”

“Sure, there are.” Raihan opened one eye, trying to steal at glance at Hop’s face, but the kid wasn’t looking at him this time, seeming more focused on one of the strings in Raihan’s hoodie. “I think a beautiful princess named Hop could do it.”

Hop shot up, Raihan quickly closing his eyes again, forgetting he was supposed to be dead, but Hop’s little exclamation of surprise made it hard for him to stifle his laughter. “I’m not a princess! I’m a boy!”

“Boys can be princesses.” Raihan stiffened when he could hear shuffling from the bathroom down the hall. Leon was going to be out any minute, and Raihan didn’t want him to see him teasing his brother like this, but he was curious as all hell to find out of he could talk him into kissing him. If he did, Leon had better watch out, because Raihan would be barreling into the bathroom right after.

“Whatever you say.” Hop sounded unsure, but Raihan could hear him move as he leaned over him.

The toilet flushed from down the hall and the back of Raihan’s neck broke out in a cold sweat. “Hurry, Hop, or I’ll be dead forever.” To emphasize, he lolled his head to the side, letting out a loud sigh as he did, and Hop gave a small gasp above him.

Just when he thought Hop wasn’t going to give in, Raihan already preparing to end the joke early and stand from his spot, Hop suddenly gripped hold of his face, cradling the sides of Raihan’s jaw in his little palms and he swore he forgot to breathe for a second. His eyes snapped open and he watched as Hop leaned over him, before he gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

O-oh…the way he gripped hold of him, Raihan fully expected to be kissed on the lips, but this was fine. Honestly, the way Hop grabbed him like that, he almost forgot where he was for a second, not expecting the kid to do that, but he shot up from his seat, cheeks on fire as Hop sat back on his knees again, giving him a huge smile.

“Hooray, you’re alive!”

Raihan fumbled, cheeks still gushing heat. “Uh—y-yeah, I’m alive! It’s all thanks to you, Hop. You saved me!”

“Yay!”

About that time, Leon emerged from the hallway, his face lighting up once he set his sights on Hop, and Raihan struggled to stand to his feet, trying to pretend like he hadn’t been lying on his floor and talking Leon’s little brother into giving him a kiss.

“Lee!” Hop bounded over to him, throwing his arms around Leon before his brother lifted him off the floor and held him up high. “You killed Raihan!”

“Wh…at?” Leon’s smile stiffened and he shot a confused glance over at Raihan who merely shrugged. If push came to shove, he could always say kids these days had an overactive imagination and whatnot. His cheeks were still heated with the fact Hop had kissed him, and he would have passed out from bliss right there but had to save face for Leon.

“But it’s okay, because I brought him back to life!” Hop held his head high and proud, looking so smug sitting up in Leon’s arms like that. “He was dead, but I saved him! And now he’s gonna tell me what ven— _ventrolo_ … _ventriolo_ …. what that long word means!”

“Oh, I see. Good job, Hop! I knew you could do it!” Even though he sounded confused, Leon gave a huge grin to his little brother, stealing a glance at Raihan one last time who only returned it with another shrug before the three of them exited his bedroom to go eat.

Raihan sighed to himself, hoping Leon wouldn’t pester him for what that had been about, but as they descended the stairs, he couldn’t help but reach up and dab at the spot on his cheek where Hop had kissed him, smiling just a bit.

* * *

It was almost oddly quiet that morning, Raihan noticed when he first began to stir from sleep. He was warm, a lot warmer than normal, the faintest hint of whipped cream lingering in the air, but once he forced his eyes open, it became clear why.

Hop was still in his arms, breathing heavy, appearing to be sleeping quite soundly, and a smile formed on Raihan’s face almost automatically at the mere sight of him. Of course, he felt cozy and warm—Hop was here. Raihan was too caught up in the grogginess of sleep to really remember the details of their dalliance the night before, but if this feeling swelling in his chest was anything to go by, it couldn’t have been bad.

Oh yeah—there was the fact he had called off the deal. Well, he could make excuses and say it was Hop’s fault for screwing up their bargain, but Raihan had never given him a fair choice from the start. Even if Hop had agreed the whole way through, even if he did everything Raihan asked of him without question, he still wasn’t letting him go. Dirty, yes. Cruel even. But Raihan could put all that in the back of his mind for now as he pulled Hop closer to him, reveling in his warmth and inhaling the sweet scent of his hair.

He was tempted to go back to sleep, not wanting to spoil the moment when he was so comfortable, but there were things he had to do and despite how much he wanted to lie in bed with Hop all day long, he unraveled his arms from around him, being mindful not to wake him if he could help it. Hop could sleep all day, he didn’t really care, but Raihan was as gentle and quiet as he could be when he climbed from bed, taking a moment to pull the covers back over Hop and tuck him in.

He paused when he laid eyes on his face. Even in sleep, Hop was gorgeous with his slack jaw, deep breathing, and long eyelashes that cast shadows on his cheeks. It wasn’t fair for someone to be so beautiful, but Raihan caught himself staring, staring for way too long, because no matter what, he couldn’t get enough of him. It was almost like he was addicted to him and Raihan found himself wavering, palms shaking at the mere sight of him. He didn’t want to get carried away and fuck him again but fuck it all if it wasn’t hard as hell to hold back.

Hop drove him crazy. Surely, he had to know that?

With his palms still shaking, a cold sweat forming at the base of his neck, Raihan leaned down until he was hovering right over him. He brushed Hop’s bangs away from his forehead before giving him a fleeting kiss, the contact alone making him smile when he ran his fingers through his short locks.

“Get some rest, baby,” he said under his breath, the soft smile never once leaving. Because Raihan had never been so in love with anyone in all his life—he’d never been so happy simply being next to someone like this. It was euphoric.

If it felt this good then it couldn’t have been a bad thing, right? The utter joy he was feeling right now had to be good.

Tearing himself away from Hop as much as he hated to, Raihan crept from the room, opening and shutting his door back as quietly as he could muster before heading toward the kitchen. Immediately upon entry, he was greeted with the rather unsavory smell of their dinner from last night. Oh…he had gotten so caught up wanting to bed Hop as soon as possible he hadn’t really taken into account he was leaving a bunch of food out. Hopefully it wasn’t spoiled by now.

Approaching the table however, Raihan let out a long sigh. It couldn’t be helped. He hated to waste food, since he didn’t particularly cook, so Raihan tended to store whatever he could get, but judging by the way their curry had dried to the bottom of the bowls, it would probably be better to throw it out. Or maybe he could give it to Duraludon since his partner could practically eat anything. With that thought in mind, Raihan gathered the food up in a single container, throwing out the plastic take out bags and whatnot before leaving what leftovers he could salvage for his Pokémon for later.

Now that that was out of the way, he made his way back into the hall, wondering if he should take a shower in Hop’s bathroom to avoid disturbing him in Raihan’s bedroom. It’d be better than walking around in his filth all day, and he wanted Hop to sleep as much as possible, not wanting to cause him anymore distress after last night. If that kid wanted to sleep for fourteen hours, who was Raihan to tell him he couldn’t? It wasn’t like he had any plans. Nowhere to go. Nobody to meet up with.

With that thought in mind, Raihan crossed the hall until he reached Hop’s bedroom, swinging the door open and almost yelled out in surprise when he found Hop standing at the foot of his bed. Raihan blanched back, his grip on the door handle being the only thing keeping him from falling backward and Hop whipped around at the sound, his eyes growing wide for the split moment he saw Raihan. What the _fuck_ , he didn’t even hear him creep down the hallway?

A bit flustered, but trying to recover, Raihan gave him a shaky smile. “Y-you startled me, kid. Didn’t expect to see you up and at ‘em.” Though he had to admit Hop being able to silently sneak around without his knowledge put him on edge a little. What—was he gonna have to put a damn bell around his neck now?

Hop didn’t reply, but Raihan noticed him dressed in his pajamas from the night before. He didn’t snap at him, didn’t glare, didn’t even acknowledge Raihan’s existence, but merely looked as though Raihan had interrupted him in the middle of changing. Obviously, the kid was preparing to go shower, much like Raihan was doing, but now that Hop was awake, he could just go use his own bathroom.

Although…

The back of his neck prickled with sweat. Showering with Hop was tantalizing as all hell right now. He had half a mind to ask him, wondering how far he could push him until Hop gave in, much like he’d done the night before, but Raihan held back. No, he’d done plenty of teasing for now. It was time to let the kid have some space, so despite how much he really didn’t want to, Raihan let out a soft sigh before backing out of the room.

“Anyway, Ima go shower. You want breakfast?”

Hop only replied with a slow shake of his head, not even looking at him.

“Well, I’ll make something anyway, then we’ll see how your appetite is, okay?”

A slow nod and now Hop had his back turned toward him, like he was trying to hide his decency, despite being fully clothed. Raihan could tell he was folding into himself little by little the longer he stood there, and he was honestly surprised as hell the kid wasn’t biting his head off this morning. He figured once he woke up, he’d have hell to pay, but Hop was much more reserved, not even looking at him unless he had to.

Like he was trying to appear as small as possible.

He probably had a lot to think about, and Raihan wanted to be patient with him, he really did. He knew he had lied to him from the beginning about letting him go, but he could also argue that Hop was the one who pushed him to such extremes. If the kid had just listened to him from the get-go when Raihan told him that this was his new home, he wouldn’t have tried to hold that over his head and make the kid think there was a way out of this when there wasn’t. This was Hop’s home—it was as simple as that.

He’d plucked him off the street, stolen him away out from everyone’s noses, and Raihan intended to keep him here. It was a hard lesson for the kid to learn last night, but it wasn’t like Raihan intended to be cruel to him. He wasn’t interested in hurting him or anything like that—Raihan might have been a degenerate, but he wasn’t _that_ much of a monster.

Sure, he could keep telling himself that, even as he left Hop alone to run back to his bedroom and take a quick shower. He could make excuses all day long that he hadn’t hurt Hop out of malice, not once. Maybe he teased him a little too much and the kid was sensitive, but he wasn’t starving him, he wasn’t beating him—Raihan winced at the mere thought of doing anything like that.

Point being, he didn’t go through these lengths just to hurt this kid. He may have been in denial before about his feelings, but Raihan was sure of it now—he was in love with Hop. He’d _always_ been in love with him. Even when he was young, he knew deep down there were feelings there, but he attempted to brush them away, forget about them, thinking it was some weird phase and he’d get over it. Lot of good that fucking did.

He sighed, stepping from the shower and drying himself. Maybe Hop would start coming around now that he realized there was no way out of this. While Raihan would have loved for him to simply accept this and move on, he doubted Hop was far through with trying to get out of here. The kid was determined as shit, that was for damn sure, and Raihan probably had his work cut out for him down the road, if he didn’t think of another way to convince him.

He could always try being more romantic.

Raihan rolled his eyes to himself. Right. Hop would surely fall for his charms now that he’d kidnapped him and was refusing to let him leave the castle. _Super_ charming. It was a nice thought, though, as Raihan’s cheeks grew red at the idea of coming home with a bouquet of flowers for him. Cheesy, yes, but it was the thought that counted, right?

Thoughts like that buzzed in his head as Raihan fretted about. Once he was done showering, he gathered the sheets off his bed to wash, considering the mess he and Hop had made, and Raihan was no stranger to major cleanup.

All in all, it took Raihan about forty minutes to finally get things settled before he dared venture near Hop’s room again. The kid had plenty of time to shower and freshen up, but he gave his door a gentle knock in case he needed some privacy (not that Raihan hadn’t crossed that bridge already). “Kid? Hey, babe? You decent? I’m coming in.”

Not receiving a response though not expecting one, Raihan let himself in, the sight of Hop’s clothes he’d bought him the day before the first thing he noticed. He was probably going to have to put those away for him as it looked like Hop was going out of his way to ignore the bag. It had remained untouched and Raihan had no doubt he was probably wearing the same t-shirt and sweatpants he’d been wearing all week. He could only wash Hop’s same two outfits so many times before he got impatient.

With a heavy sigh, Raihan caught sight of the bathroom door light shining from the crack, and he strode over before rapping his knuckles against it. “Babe? You alright?”

Some shuffling from inside, but no reply. Those miscellaneous sounds were probably the most of a reply Raihan was going to get. Honestly, he expected the kid to be his usual self, his usual self being constantly bitching at Raihan and while he loved to tease him when he got like that, he wasn’t really sure what to do when Hop receded into his shell like this. The kid could be shy sometimes, but he was flat out ignoring him.

There was a heavy scent of cream in the air and Raihan could only assume that meant he’d showered. As far as he knew, Hop had used up all his clothes and he doubted the kid wanted to dress in what he was wearing yesterday.

So, with that in mind—

Raihan reached around to the bed where the bag of clothes still sat and rummaged around until he pulled out the essentials. Folding them up in his arms, he knocked on the bathroom door again, gaining no reply.

“You’re out of clothes, aren’t you?” And he couldn’t help but give a smug smile even though Hop couldn’t see, because now the kid had no excuse not to wear his new outfits. “Figured you were. Open up, I have some for you.” He fully expected Hop to give in at the prospect of having something to wear, but Raihan was left pretty disappointed when he didn’t even get a peep out of him.

Kid didn’t want to see him. He knew that. While there wasn’t much Raihan could do, Hop _was_ going to have to get used to him one way or another, and he knew he was just embarrassed after having sex with him, especially after all the things Raihan made him say and do. Of course, the poor kid was embarrassed.

“Babe, you ain’t gotta be all shy just because of last night. Don’t you think it only brings us closer together? Your little scrawny ass ain’t the only one I’ve seen, but it’s the best.” He was doing an awful job of trying to ease Hop’s worries, he knew, but Raihan never was the best at comforting people when they were upset. 

Despite his best efforts, Raihan didn’t receive a response from Hop, and he sighed, deciding to fold the clothes on top of the dresser for him and hope for the best. He couldn’t force Hop out (well he _could_ , but that wouldn’t bode very well for him if he was hoping to get Hop acquainted with living here), so all he could do was keep his distance for now and hope Hop found his own footing later. With the clothes set on the dresser, Raihan turned back to the bathroom door a final time.

“I’m making eggs.” That was about all he was capable of cooking. Sad, but true. “If you get hungry, don’t be shy. I’ll have a plate ready for you.” All Raihan really could do at this point was be gentle and allow Hop the choice to make his own decisions. He wouldn’t force him to eat. He wouldn’t force him to dress in the clothes, but he would let _Hop_ choose to do those things. Baby steps and all that.

So, for now, with a final sigh, Raihan turned and exited the bedroom, heading toward the kitchen in hopes of enticing Hop with a nice-smelling breakfast.

* * *

Raihan ended up eating his scrambled eggs in silence, having migrated to the couch after all was said and done to watch some television. There wasn’t much on, other than the remnants of the championship match. The weekend it happened, it had blown up on just about every news station, but the hype was slowly dying down much to Raihan’s relief. Leon was no stranger to being interviewed, and he always had a pang of nausea fall into his stomach every time he so much as set eyes on that guy, even on the television screen. More often than not, Raihan changed the channel to some random soap operas or even game shows in the hopes of not accidentally catching news coverage and having to see Leon’s face.

It had been almost one week since he kidnapped Hop and honestly, it seemed more like months had passed when Raihan thought about it, but tomorrow was Friday, and a week from then would mark the day he’d snatched Hop out of his life forever. It shouldn’t have given him a warmth in his chest, thinking about everything that had happened in the span of one week, but he slouched down on the couch, his eyes lidded and he drifted off a few times, having to catch himself awake.

If one week with Hop had been this amazing, he was excited at the prospect of spending even more time with him. It would take some getting used to, especially on Hop’s end, as Raihan had more or less become accustomed to him pretty quickly. He adopted the responsibility of taking care of someone else quite admirably if he did say so himself. It was intimidating at first, but Hop wasn’t hard to please. Feed the kid pasta, let him watch the telly, keep his shower full of soap, and Hop was good to go. He didn’t ask for anything (thought that could be attributed to his shyness), but he probably was still under the impression Raihan was going to let him go, or someone would somehow realize where he was and come save him.

Even before last night, Raihan never had any intentions of letting him go. He could lie to himself all day and say this was supposed to be a one time thing, and he would have been fine with dropping Hop off at Wyndon once he was done with him, but the longer he spent with him, the more Raihan realized that would have killed him. It was sleazy of him to take the kid the way he had done that first night, fucking with only his lust in mind, because it wouldn’t matter in the end then. If Raihan had gone through with his plan, fucked him, taken Hop back, hoping that this silly crush of his would be ended by it, he had another thing fucking coming.

He had been obsessed with Hop for years before he snatched him. The only reason Raihan didn’t do it before was because there was never an opportunity. He’d often fantasized about stealing Hop away to keep him all to himself, but he was never far out of sight from his brother, from his neighbor, from the rest of his family. Raihan never got a chance alone with him, and it killed him thinking back to times when he was still a teenager himself and Hop was still a child.

He used to sneak around behind Leon’s back in order to spend what little time with him he could. Hop never showed much interest in him, especially not after he was old enough to fanboy about Leon, but even before he put Leon on a pedestal, Raihan rarely said much to him, as anytime Leon came around, he gave Hop the cold shoulder. It probably confused the poor kid more than anything, wondering why his brother’s friend was nice to him one minute then ignoring him the next, but he didn’t want to risk Leon finding out he was harboring feelings for him.

Because—even as a teenager, Raihan had confusing feelings. Maybe at the time he didn’t recognize them as love, but they were definitely there. His feelings for Hop were always more tender than he’d ever had for anyone. Oftentimes, his thoughts drifted to him when he hardly realized, Raihan would daydream about him, fantasize about scenarios in which they were a couple and Hop was excited to date him. Things like that.

His eyes drooped as his soap opera droned on, and Raihan felt himself nodding off as he stretched out on the couch, lying on his side.

He’d been in denial for so long, to finally call himself out and be honest was like a breath of fresh air. He loved Hop more than anything, and he was glad he kidnapped him. He was glad Hop was here, and he was excited to spend more time with him. That kid made him happy, _so happy_ that Raihan thought he knew what happiness was before, but he didn’t. Not since Hop came around.

Fuck, he _loved him_.

At some point, Raihan dozed off on the couch, the telly still playing the same soap opera (Raihan had lost interest and only knew it was about some couple cheating on each other), and he flopped onto his back, not sure how long he had fallen asleep for. It felt like he’d only been dozing for ten minutes, but the groggy sense in his head told him otherwise once he’d awakened.

Though, that wasn’t what roused him.

At first, Raihan thought he was still passed out and maybe dreaming, but when his eyes fluttered open, fighting the sleep fuzziness in his vision, he could have sworn he saw Hop hovering over him, hand outstretched toward Raihan’s trousers.

Raihan blinked the sleep from his eyes. No way. _No fuckin’ way._ Was Hop into sleeping people or something? Surely, this was some mistake, as much as Raihan wanted to say Hop was feeling him up in his sleep, he had a sneaking suspicion what was going on. Quickly, he shut his eyes again, having caught Hop when he wasn’t looking at his face, but focused on his pocket, inching his way toward the square-shaped bulge in his trousers.

He almost wanted to giggle through his nose at the fact he’d caught Hop red-handed, but he wondered how long it would take the kid to realize he was awake and knew what he was up to. He wasn’t that hard to figure out, but Raihan had to give him props—the kid had balls that was for sure. Sneaking in while Raihan was asleep to try and lift his phone off him was a ballsy move for sure. If he wasn’t pretending to be asleep to drag this out, he would have commended him for his guts.

Sadly, as much as his fantasies wanted him to believe Hop was trying to feel him up, he could feel the kid trying gently, as gently as possible, to pull his phone out. With the way Raihan was lying on his back, stretched out, Hop had to lean over the couch to get at his phone in his pocket, and he was so close, Raihan could smell the scent of whipped cream wafting off him, not doubt the evidence from his shower, and he could hear Hop’s heavy breathing as he tried desperately to quiet himself. It was cruel to tease him like this, but Raihan still couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed he was awake yet.

Poor kid was so desperate, but the minute his fingers brushed up against Raihan’s Rotom phone, the Pokémon chirped— _loud_ —and Raihan threw his arm around Hop, causing the kid to let out a yelp when he was pulled from his feet and landed straight on Raihan’s chest.

He opened his eyes, shooting him a smile when Hop’s entire face turned bright red, either from embarrassment, or from being caught red-handed. Could be both, too. “Hey, beautiful. If you wanted to get frisky, all you had to do was ask.”

“I wasn’t…I didn’t…” But Hop fumbled on his words, his face turning redder the longer Raihan lay there with his arm wrapped around him, holding him flat against his body. Hop was practically lying on top of him now, and he almost hated how he could feel the kid’s legs trying to crawl away, but only succeeded in rubbing against his crotch bulge. Damn, if Hop got him off now, he might not be able to hold back on fucking him again, but Raihan sucked in a breath to calm himself. He couldn’t be doing things like that right after last night. Hop needed a little breather, and so did Raihan.

So instead, his smile widened. “ _Sure_ , you didn’t, babe. I knew you were shy, but I had no idea you were _this_ much of a closet degenerate. Shoulda told me you were into sleeping people.”

Hop’s eyes grew wide with shock. “I-I am not! I was just—”

Before he could finish, Raihan’s Rotom flew out of his pocket, the little Pokémon chirping and hovering overhead, just out of Hop’s reach. It gave the kid a bit of a mocking glance as it floated high above the two of them and Hop’s eyes trailed up to it, Raihan able to see the crestfallen look on his face alone.

Poor Hop had the balls, but he wasn’t very sneaky when it came to stuff like this. Raihan almost wanted to give him pointers on how to successfully steal his phone, but he settled on giving him another smile.

“Who were you planning to call?”

Instead of responding, Hop fell silent, his face still gushing heat as he tried not so successfully to push himself off Raihan’s chest, but with his arm looped around him, Hop wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Raihan shrugged, not at all fazed by Hop’s struggling, or lack thereof. “Just askin’. There somebody you got on your mind? Your little not-girlfriend, maybe?” And his chest tightened, thinking back to the previous night when Hop stroked himself, growing an erection after calling Leon’s name, per Raihan’s request, and his smile turned into a cringe when he said his next sentence, more out of spite than anything. “Your brother?”

Hop froze, no longer pushing against him, but his reddened face turned hard until he was giving Raihan a very prominent glare. “Lee’s going to come looking for me eventually.”

“You’re awfully preoccupied with that dumb brother of yours.” Raihan’s grip around him tightened, but he didn’t dare squeeze him. Hop could easily be hurt by his strength and he kept himself in check, but he snorted through his nose, an empty laugh following. Just a sound to make sound, but not because Raihan found it funny. In fact, it was sparking his jealousy, especially now that he was coming to from his nap, and with Hop here, he couldn’t help himself. “Guess it only makes sense, since you apparently get off to him all the time.”

The red that had softened from Hop’s face only returned, until he was red all the way down his neck. “I-I do _not_ think about Lee like that! _You’re_ a fucking pervert—you’re the one who told me to do that.”

True, he did. Raihan was interested to see if Hop could get an erection while calling out for Leon, and damn—did he get more than he bargained for.

With Hop’s hardening glare, Raihan frowned back at him, his smile completely disappeared, and he let out a rather annoyed huff, still holding his arm around him to keep Hop flattened to his chest. It would do no good if he let his jealousy get to him, but he couldn’t deny seeing Hop get hard while calling out for Leon really got on his fucking nerves. “Not my fault you get off so easily. Maybe if you really don’t have feelings for Leon, you wouldn’t get off.” It was just his jealousy talking. Just the jealousy. Raihan knew that. He knew Hop didn’t actually have feelings for Leon.

All those times he spent following him around, Hop had only ever shown interest in one person, and that was Gloria. Never once did he see any evidence he was secretly harboring feelings for his brother.

Raihan knew that. And yet still, he pushed. He pushed and pushed, because he was a fucking jealous asshole. But it wasn’t because of Hop.

It was—

“ _You’re_ the one preoccupied with Lee—not me. For the last time—I don’t like him like that!” Hop’s glare never once wavered, and Raihan stared into his eyes, not intimidated in the slightest, but also not able to help his frown that continued to fall.

Hop had a point, after all. He knew the kid wasn’t in love with his brother, but that whole thing started because Raihan—

The image of Leon blushing while he spoke of Hop flashed through his head, and Raihan felt a groan of aggravation rumble in his chest. Fucking, _that was why._ The fucking dumbass had the gall to sit there and talk about Hop like he did, and even blush about it. Every time he thought about it, Raihan only had the compulsion to keep Hop locked up forever where his stupid older brother would never find him.

Not just out of spite, but so Hop would realize who truly cared about him when push came to shove. It wasn’t his family, not his neighbor, certainly not his stupid older brother.

Only Raihan.

Only Raihan had noticed him a long, long time ago. Long before Hop ever begun to idolize Leon like he had. Raihan saw the cute, adorable shy boy that skittered around the house, too afraid to talk to him, and he took time when Leon wasn’t looking to coax Hop along, even getting him to laugh.

His cheeks gushed a bit.

Even getting him to kiss his cheek.

He doubted Hop remembered that, as he was so young when it happened, but Raihan certainly fucking did.

He rolled his eyes, lolling his head back, letting out an annoyed sigh before he finally lifted his arm away from Hop, allowing the kid his space to scramble back off him and get to his feet.

And Raihan couldn’t help himself. As he watched Hop straighten himself back up (and was he finally wearing those clothes Raihan got him?), he gave him a lidded stare. “You might not feel that way about Leon, but he sure as fuck does.”

At that, Hop froze, but continued glaring at him. Ah—it was that same look he always gave Raihan. The one that suggested he was full of shit. Any other time, Raihan would have been glad to see the kid with his spark back, especially after last night, but when the subject was about Leon, it just gave him a bitter taste in the back of his throat.

“You’re full of shit.”

Yep. That was Hop’s go to and while he wasn’t necessarily wrong, Raihan rolled his eyes again as he sat up from the couch, throwing his legs over the side when he did so. “I’ve hung out with that guy a hell of a lot more than you have, kid. I’ve heard the way he talks about you. Pardon—the way he _gushes_ about you.” It sickened him to even say things like that, but it wasn’t even a lie. Leon did gush about Hop a lot, it wasn’t until Raihan had taken Hop away did he really sit and observe just how Leon looked when he talked about him.

He looked enamored. The way only someone in love looked when they talked fondly about someone, and Raihan fucking hated it.

Hop wasn’t buying it, and merely crossed his arms, giving Raihan another glare. “Fuck you.”

Ugh. As much as he would love to tease him, Raihan wasn’t in the mood right now. Though it made him feel a little better to see Hop more or less back to his old self. He didn’t like him tucking away and hiding from him, but they were right back where they were before, and it seemed now that Hop had lost the bargain, he was going to desperate measures to call for help.

And Raihan couldn’t let that happen. He shrugged, standing from the couch and stretching his back, popping a few bones in the process. “Whatever. Believe me, don’t believe me. It doesn’t matter. You can think I’m full of shit all you want, but you were bound to find out sooner or later what a creep your older brother was.”

“Don’t talk about Lee like that!” Hop’s face reddened again, but he backed up when Raihan stood from the couch, keeping the distance between them and Raihan could tell he was shrinking into himself, like he was trying to make himself appear as small as possible again. He was doing that a lot more lately, he noticed. “You’re the fucking pervert here. What kind of sick person keeps someone locked up like this?”

Raihan shrugged. “Me, apparently.”

Obviously not expecting to be derailed so quickly, Hop’s shoulders drooped, and he finally tore his gaze away from Raihan, focusing instead on the carpet below.

In one fell swoop, he’d sucked all the life from him and Raihan felt a little guilty his response was as curt as it was, but he was only being honest. But, with Hop looking that way, he couldn’t help himself and crossed the distance between them, until he reached out and gave him a pat on the head. Hop flinched but didn’t move.

It was an awful attempt to comfort him, but there wasn’t much Raihan could do for him now other than offer him what little reassurance he could. “Aw, come on, kid, it won’t be that bad. You had fun last night, didn’t you?”

Hop tensed, Raihan could feel him stiffen underneath him, but he didn’t dare respond.

So, Raihan shrugged. “If you’re too shy to say, it’s fine. I mean, I saw the expressions on you, the sounds you made.” Not able to help himself, Raihan crouched down to his knees until he was face level with Hop, forcing the kid to steal a glance at him when he did. He looked incredibly uncomfortable having Raihan so close to him. “And can I just say, you make some of the _sexiest_ sounds I’ve ever heard, baby.”

Stiffening even more underneath his gaze, Hop sucked in a quick breath before taking a step backward in hopes of keeping the distance between them.

Did he really have to look so fucking cute when Raihan was teasing him like this? He wouldn’t have kept pushing, but the way Hop’s shoulders bunched up, the blush only gushing more on his cheeks, and the way he fiddled with his hands when he was nervous just drove him _fucking wild_ , and he couldn’t help it.

With a laugh through his nose, Raihan giving him a smile once more, he pat Hop on the head a final time. “Give it time, kid. You’ll get used to this. Hell, you might even beg me to let you stay.”

“I just want to go home.”

And there was such a stark contrast to how Hop had sounded earlier, when he’d been biting Raihan’s head off, that it almost gave him whiplash hearing his voice once more. Hop was quiet, his voice no longer carrying any of that harsh tone or poison from before. He just sounded empty, even as he looked up at Raihan, finally making eye contact with him, Raihan almost gasped at how quickly Hop’s entire demeanor changed. The spark in his eye was completely gone. The kid could flip at the drop of a hat _like that_ —but could Raihan really blame him?

“Raihan, _please_. I don’t want to stay here. I _can’t_ stay here—I-I’ve got family. They probably think something awful has happened to me.” And his brow pinched as he gave Raihan a pleading look. “Please, let me go. _Please_.”

Raihan would have been lying if he said seeing Hop reduced to this didn’t make that pang of guilt surface, but he closed his eyes, sighing when he did so. Maybe if he had kidnapped Hop and hadn’t gotten to sleep with him yet, maybe he would have been swayed by this. Maybe if Hop’s blindfold never fell off, he wouldn’t even be here. He hated to see this kid suffer, he hated seeing him miss a family that didn’t give two shits about him, but he knew deep down that Hop would be suffering even more if he were to let him go.

Those people didn’t appreciate him. Hop’s family, his mother and his stupid brother he kept going on about—none of them appreciated him like he deserved. None of them noticed him when Leon was in the spotlight. It was always about Leon, but never about Hop.

So, he gave him another pat on the head, along with a soft, hopefully reassuring smile when he opened his eyes. “I’m sorry, kid. You’re staying with me.”

The sight of Hop’s face dropping shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did, but…damn. Raihan almost felt his chest tighten at the sight, but more out of the need to save himself than anything, Raihan gently gripped his arm, pulling him close to his chest before he wrapped his arms around him.

“Hey, come on, it won’t be bad, alright? I’m going to take good care of ya.” He kissed the top of his head as he ran his fingers through Hop’s hair, and the whole while, the kid never moved a muscle. He only breathed and trembled a little, his palms pressed to Raihan’s chest as he was hugged. “You’ll see, baby, you’ll understand one day that all of this is for your own good. I’m only looking out for your best interests.”

Finally, Hop spoke, though it was so quiet, Raihan almost didn’t hear him. “…why?”

Raihan froze for a moment, his fingers still gliding through Hop’s hair, and he opened his mouth to say because he only wanted what was best for Hop, because he cared about him, because—

Raihan swallowed, but not before giving Hop another kiss on top of his head. “Because I love you.”

Gently, almost unnoticeably so, Hop pushed against his chest with the palm of both hands, causing Raihan to back off when he released him from the hug. Hop’s brow was pinched, eyes downcast to the floor, his cheeks still a faint pink, and he had never seen the kid recede into himself quite like this before. He looked so lost in that moment, like he didn’t know where he was, what to do, what to say. 

Hop raised his head up to look at Raihan once again. “Y-you…” He swallowed, the noise audible enough Raihan could hear it, and his expression was a mystery—Raihan couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but Hop’s voice was much smaller than before. “You don’t even know me. You’re _Lee’s_ friend. How can you say something like that when I barely even know you?”

And Raihan frowned. The truth was, he _did_ know Hop, he knew him better than anyone else did, he watched after him a hell of a lot better than that stupid older brother of his. Raihan had seen sides of him he doubted he ever let anyone else see. Only Raihan got to see Hop at his most vulnerable, at his weakest, at his strongest, when he was happiest, when he was sad—Raihan didn’t care about Hop’s faults or his shortcomings—he loved them all. _He loved him_.

But he sighed, backing away from the kid as he refused to respond to that, because it didn’t really matter what he said to him, Hop wasn’t going to believe him anyway. It was pointless to stand here and bicker about it when Hop refused to see the truth, when Raihan could have gotten down on his knees and proclaimed his love to him over and over, Hop wouldn’t understand, he knew.

So, without giving him an answer, Raihan sidestepped around from him, striding across the room and into the hallway, his Rotom phone floating along after him. He reached up to grab it out of the air before he made a pit stop at his bedroom to grab his cigarettes. He needed a smoke right now, and he needed to be away from Hop for a while, lest his emotions get the better of him and he did something drastic. Hop could probably use some time away from him as well, as he’d obviously made the kid uncomfortable and Raihan wasn’t about that shit. He didn’t want Hop afraid of him, even after last night. He wanted Hop to see that sleeping with him wasn’t something horrible, but something fun, something that proved how much Raihan loved him, and the kid just wasn’t going to see it that way.

With his Rotom phone and a pack of cigarettes stuffed in his pockets, Raihan made his way down the hallway until he was at the entrance, undoing the lock with his card before exiting. There were plenty of balconies and open-spaced areas in the castle he could go, so he walked a good ways from his apartment before settling on one of the bridges that led to the opposite end of the tower.

Once outside, the morning air was a bit too muggy for his tastes even, he fished his cigarettes out before lighting one, taking a long, deliberate drag of it. Raihan leaned over the guard rail on the bridge, staring down at the people walking by below and marveling at how much smaller they appeared from so high up. They were just shy of being tiny specks, but that only served to drill in the fact nobody would ever know Hop was in the castle with him. At least, Raihan was confident nobody would ever suspect him, and hell, they probably thought he’d run away somewhere or gotten cold feet from the championship match. It wasn’t unusual for people to take off with their Pokémon for weeks at a time, as people tended to think as long as they were with their partners, they were pretty safe. Though in Hop’s case—

Thoughts like that buzzed in his head before Raihan finished off his cigarette, letting out a tired, drawn out sigh (he was doing that a lot lately), before he pulled his Rotom phone from his pocket. The little Pokémon chirped and whirred as he scrolled through social media for a bit, nothing newsworthy happening and only boring him in the process. Come to think of it, he was honestly a little surprised Leon hadn’t made any announcements about Hop or anything. No calls of distress, nothing letting people know to stay on the lookout for a lost trainer (if they even suspected he was missing and hadn’t just run away).

It left a bitter taste in the back of his throat again and Raihan grumbled, lighting up a second cigarette before he made his way to a nearby bench and sat down, stretching his legs until a few bones popped.

He and Leon hadn’t texted much the past week, as the last time he’d spoken to him, Leon was in the middle of trying to figure out what he was going to do now that he wasn’t champion. All Raihan had heard the past week was about how busy he was, and he gritted his teeth at the fact Leon wasn’t appearing to take Hop’s disappearance all that seriously which made no sense because Raihan didn’t want him hammering him for details since he was the last person to see Hop, but _still_.

Would it kill the guy to give more of a shit about his little brother?

Then there was the fact Hop was still stubborn as hell about Leon having feelings for him and really—Raihan had no evidence that he was. All he had to go on was seeing Leon blush a little when he spoke about him, but that wasn’t a confession by any means. It was his jealousy, he knew, but that still made him bite his lip, almost drawing blood as he pulled up Leon’s number and dialed him.

A few rings later, he was greeted with a very sleepy sounding, “Mmello…?”

“Morning, champ. Rise and shine.” He fought to keep his voice cheery and his tone light, but damn it all if it wasn’t hard as fuck right now. Where did this guy get off treating Hop the way he did?

“Oh…hey, Rai. What’s up?” Leon gave a soft yawn as he roused himself from sleep, Raihan able to hear him sitting up in bed and shuffling around.

“Nothin’. Just wanted to check in.” And he bit his bottom lip again, Hop’s words rattling around in his head until he had to shake himself out of it. Hop had _no idea_ what he was talking about, and if he wanted to learn things the hard way, then that’s what Raihan was going to have to do. It’d be harder on him, he’d probably hate him for a while, but dammit, Raihan was determined to prove to Hop who _really_ gave a damn about him, even if he had to use Leon to do it.

“Oh thanks. I’m fine. Just been preoccupied with a lot of things. Still no word on Hop?”

Well, at least he asked. Raihan rolled his eyes. This damn asshole. “Nope. Nothin’.”

“I-I see…” Though Leon sounded incredibly disappointed by the way his voice fell, Raihan couldn’t help the spite that surfaced despite it. This damn idiot should’ve been turning the town upside down looking for his brother. Did he not care at all about him? Did he _really_ not give a shit? Was that all it took was for Raihan to say he got cold feet, bailed, and Leon took it hook, line, and sinker? Holy shit, he was only getting angrier the longer he sat there, bouncing his knee up and down to try and channel his annoyances without spitting back at Leon.

“Listen, champ, I’ve been thinking.” Raihan shifted his weight in his seat as he crossed his legs, taking another drag on his cigarette. “We never hung out before after the championship and all that.”

“It’s been a tad busy, Rai.”

“Yeah, I know, but my point is, you need to loosen up some. Have a night of fun, you know?” Another drag, and Raihan fought not to grit his teeth when he spoke next. “Why don’t I swing by your place this weekend and we have some fun? You still got that shitty cream vodka you like, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Brilliant. I’ll bring some of my own stuff and we can just relax for one night. I’m sure you’ve been under a lot of stress.” Oh, he was laying it on _thick_ now, but it was necessary to butter him up and get Leon to go along with him. It wasn’t like Raihan was doing this because he was desperate for the company, or even to give Leon a little social call.

This was all for Hop’s sake, after all, otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering talking to his stupid brother. And really, Raihan’s plan could fail miserably, but he wouldn’t know until he got Leon hammered what his true feelings were.

Raihan tried to smile, tried to so Leon could hear it in his voice. “Come on, champ, whaddaya say?”

There was a long stretch of silence on the other line to the point Raihan thought they’d gotten disconnected, but Leon finally gave a resigned, defeated sigh before he answered. “Alright. I’m in. Is Saturday alright with you?”

Raihan’s grin turned genuine for once as he gazed out at the sky, a gentle breeze wafting by. “Saturday it is.”

If he got Leon drunk enough, maybe he would start unloading confessions on him, maybe he could get him to say how he was never searching for Hop from the beginning, how he believed Hop probably ran away and revealed Leon never understood how important that match was to his brother. Raihan wouldn’t know until he tried after all, but it wouldn’t be the first time he got that dumb idiot hammered and he started gushing about shit he would never tell him about normally, especially if Raihan sat there with him and grilled him about it. All he had to do was feed him enough alcohol to loosen him up, get him to spill the truth, and then he could prove to Hop how much of an afterthought he was to his older brother.

That was the plan anyway.

Raihan sucked in air, closing his eyes when he exhaled, a puff of smoke snaking out along with it.

Hop would understand, one way or another. He’d understand how Raihan was the only one who loved him, how he had always been the only one to love him, and then he’d see. Hop would understand— _he would_ , whether he wanted to or not.

Raihan would prove it to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you always for your support!! ;-; i really appreciate you guys
> 
> also, i have a twitter if you're interested in hearing me gush about pokemon and other things! 
> 
> i'm @leonloveshop
> 
> :D


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER WASN'T SUPPOSED TO EXIST LOL but god, i wanted to write something smutty so bad
> 
> anyway, watch out for the noncon in this chapter. it's not violent or anything, but yeah.

Raihan’s apartment was oddly silent when he returned, though he wasn’t quite sure what he expected (maybe hearing the pitter patter of Hop running around doing his own thing), but once he swiped his card and crossed the threshold, letting the door shut and lock behind him, he let out a sigh before leaning his back against it, shoulders dropping as he did so. It had only been a couple of hours since he woke up, but already Raihan felt exhausted, reaching up and rubbing at his temples when he feared a headache incoming, the warning signs already developing. He had stayed outside smoking for a good while after getting off the phone with Leon, hoping to clear his head and figure out just what exactly he planned to do when he met up with him on Saturday. It was easy to simply say he could get Leon drunk enough to unload some baggage on him, but there was no guarantee Raihan would get what he wanted.

But, if push came to shove, he had other means of proving to Hop that nobody cared about him, nobody except Raihan, that is. It was cruel to even consider the idea, but Raihan could always show him that there were no missing persons reports, no acknowledgements from Leon on social media. Not even an outcry from his own mother. And Raihan had been very careful to keep up with what was being posted, especially in his own circles and social groups. Nobody, not one person mentioned _anything_ about Hop.

The fact that Hop hadn’t shown up to the semifinals was so inconsequential to everybody who didn’t know him, who didn’t understand how important it was to him—even his own fucking brother brushed him aside and Raihan would never forgive him for that. Hell, if he could get away with it, Raihan might just slug his face in while he was drunk. Least then he might not remember it or be too drunk to feel the pain. It’d serve the bastard right.

Ugh, thinking of things like that only soured his already spoiled mood, but Raihan pushed himself from the door, sauntering up the stairs until he was officially back in his apartment. There was no sign of Hop, at least not from the hallway, so he went on the hunt. Though it had only been a week since bringing Hop here, Raihan had already become familiar with his hiding spots, mainly his bedroom, his bathroom, and sometimes, on rare occasions, Hop would lay siege in the living room to watch television. Though Raihan wished he would shuffle about, as this place was his home and he should feel welcome, he couldn’t blame the kid for sticking to himself. It wasn’t like Raihan gave him all that many opportunities to trust him, so it was no wonder Hop didn’t believe him when he said he loved him.

Raihan sighed to himself, really feeling up for another nap right about now, but he couldn’t do that. There wasn’t a whole lot he could do in terms of trying to convince Hop that he really was in love with him, as it was kind of difficult to once you brought up the fact Raihan had kidnapped him, and slept with him twice at this point. In his fantasies, he always took this a lot slower, he often dreamed of going through the dating phase with Hop, as he’d been fantasizing of dating Hop since the kid turned twelve (yeah, yeah, Raihan knew that was creepy, but he didn’t care). At least in his mind, Raihan wanted to take things slow, but there was no dating Hop once he skipped straight to the desperate measures portion of it, mainly kidnapping him and keeping him locked up.

It wasn’t very romantic if he asked Hop to be his boyfriend while holding him against his will. Even Raihan knew how crazy that sounded, but it was still a nice passing thought at least, one that made his cheeks gush with heat. Though, knowing how badly he’d fucked up by doing all he’d done wasn’t going to stop him from at least trying to convince Hop that his feelings were genuine. The kid had already made it known he didn’t believe him (and really, why should he?), but Raihan had all the time in the world to prove to Hop who _really_ gave a damn about him.

And it sure as fuck wasn’t Leon.

It was a starting point at least, to try and gather evidence that Leon was a deadbeat, so at least Hop could see that Raihan wasn’t just shooting hot air out his ass this whole time. Seriously—what kind of older brother, one who was as famous as Leon, who had countless connections and contacts—what kind of brother wouldn’t be losing his mind right now knowing his younger sibling was missing? Hop had convinced himself Leon was some kind of saint, that he was out there right this second looking for him when Raihan knew damn well he wasn’t.

There wasn’t anybody out there looking for Hop. Nobody was coming for him, nobody cared that he didn’t show up to the semifinals. Nobody. Fucking. _Gave a damn about him._ And Hop was going to learn that one way or another, even if Raihan had to go out and get the solid evidence himself, he would show him.

With his head abuzz with thoughts like these, Raihan perked up a bit when he stuck his head through Hop’s bedroom door, spotting the kid sitting at the edge of the bed, his back facing him at first, but at the sound of Raihan’s shuffling, Hop whipped around to face him, Raihan shooting him a smile when he did. “Hey, babe, whatcha doin’?”

His only response was a rather stilted stare from Hop, though Raihan didn’t expect him to answer, but he couldn’t really place his expression. Usually Hop would be giving him lip and bitching at him, but he just folded into himself to the point Raihan could see his shoulders bunching up like he was uncomfortable. Not that he could blame him if he was, but Raihan crossed the threshold, closing the door behind him as he peered around the room.

Well, the bag of clothes he’d bought for him was still there, though now that Raihan was paying attention, he could see that Hop had indeed rummaged through it, having placed the bag on the floor, something that shouldn’t have made him incredibly happy, but it did. Now that he was getting a good look at him, Hop was dressed in a pair of shorts and a black tank top, and holy _fuck_ , did he look hot in it. Raihan couldn’t help but grin.

“Like your new clothes? I wasn’t really sure what to buy you, but I figured maybe a little bit of everything would make it easier for you.” As he drew closer, he could see Hop tensing more and more, until Raihan stood right in front of him. Hop shrank into himself, holding his head low, a small tinge of blush appearing on his cheeks, probably at the fact Raihan was within touching distance, but he tried to give the kid a reassuring smile that he wasn’t going to mess with him. At least not now.

Raihan leaned back against the dresser that was directly behind him, resting his hands in his short pockets where the tips of his fingers brushed against his Rotom phone. “Are you just sitting in here doing nothin’?”

It wasn’t like he had a whole lot of things for Hop to do—he’d already disposed of his phone, he considered buying him his own television, but Raihan had to be incredibly careful with what he gave Hop in the line of electronics. Just about everything nowadays could be used to communicate with someone, and he didn’t need Hop sending out distress signals telling people he was in the castle. Come to think of it, Raihan was pretty sure he had an old game system packed up in boxes somewhere. One of those older ones from back when he was a kid that didn’t connect to the internet or anything. He could always dig that out so the kid would have _something_ to do. He hated seeing him bored all the time when there wasn’t much to do in the apartment itself other than watch tv.

Hop never responded to him, but Raihan let out a sigh when he leaned more of his weight onto the dresser, causing it to creak beneath him. He may as well rip the bandaid off now about having to leave Hop for another day, something he didn’t want to do, but something he _had_ to do. At least there’d be alcohol this time which would make it a little easier dealing with the fact he just wanted to be near Hop. Damn—Raihan was getting clingier every day, but dammit, he couldn’t help it.

“So, I’m gonna be gone Saturday. Probably won’t leave until the evening, but I’ll be back Sunday.”

At that, Hop perked up a bit, though when he lifted his head, he did just about everything but make eye contact with Raihan. There was a look of minor confusion on his face, so Raihan kept on.

“I ain’t gonna lock you in your room this time. I think you and I both know there’s really nowhere for you to go, so you can have free reign of the place. Just don’t set it on fire or nothin’.” That was more a joke than anything, but now Raihan was wondering if Hop got desperate enough, if he really would do something drastic like that.

Ehh, just to be on the safe side.

Raihan cleared his throat. “I’ll probably leave Duraludon and Goodra out to look after you. Like, at least it won’t be as lonely then, yeah?”

Hop only tensed, looking off to the side, but still said nothing.

And Raihan wished he would talk to him, or at least look at him. He was right back where he was this morning, having receded back into his shell, and Raihan hated seeing him like this. He would have rather Hop bit his head off, because at least then he was full of life. Seeing him like this was just—

Raihan crossed his arms, trying not to let the guilt that piled into his stomach talk him out of doing this.

Seeing Hop like this was just _sad_. It wasn’t like him to mope around, but Raihan couldn’t blame him, he knew he couldn’t, but _holy shit_ , the kid didn’t have to be that upset just because Raihan talked him into having sex again, just because Raihan wasn’t letting him go back to a family that didn’t give two shits about him.

Hop was supposed to be happy.

“They ain’t gonna hurt you or nothin’, kid, so don’t worry. If anything happens, Duraludon will protect you—”

“Where are you going?”

Hop’s abrupt question threw him off and for a moment, Raihan sputtered on his words, the instinct to lie tripping him up, because there was no damn way he was telling that kid he was going to see Leon. He stammered for a moment, trying to come up with something that didn’t sound like complete bullshit. “Business. Don’t worry about it.” Well, the vaguer the better, right? Hop didn’t need unnecessary details and he most certainly didn’t need the truth.

Ugh. This whole mess really was turning Raihan into a liar, but there wasn’t much he could do. Once Hop started to understand that his family didn’t care about him, then Raihan could start being more straight-forward with him. He hated lying to this kid, but sometimes it was necessary.

At that, Hop drew his legs up from the floor, bunching them to his chest where he wrapped his arms around them and rested his chin into his knees, letting out a rather frustrated sounding sigh when he did so. “Whatever.”

Raihan opened his mouth to say…well—he didn’t know. At first, he wanted to say something reassuring, or comforting. Hell, anything to try and ease any of Hop’s worries about being left alone for a little while, but whatever Raihan could come up with only sounded disingenuous once he thought about it, so he shut his mouth. There really wasn’t a whole lot he could say at this point to really give Hop peace of mind, but he leaned away from the dresser, taking a step toward Hop.

“Kid.” Some part of his mind was yelling at him to say something to this kid, at least pretend this whole mess wasn’t fucking insane for one minute and lay out the facts for him, but Raihan knew nothing would get through to him. It was too early, it was way too early for him to be putting so much on Hop when the poor kid was still coming to terms with the fact he wasn’t leaving here. It wasn’t fair of Raihan to be expecting so much of him so soon, and he knew none of this was fair. It wasn’t fair to Hop. It wasn’t fair to push him into doing so many things he clearly wasn’t ready for, Raihan knew that.

But still, he sighed, clutching at his forehead when his headache threatened to surface once again. This whole thing was a fucking mess.

“Kid, look. I know you hate me. I know you don’t believe a word I say and to be honest? I don’t blame you. You have every right to hate me, to be pissed off, to think I’m full of shit. But, life here ain’t gotta be miserable. I don’t want you to be miserable, kid. I didn’t go through all this trouble to hurt you or anything.” Raihan sighed for the umpteenth time that day, giving Hop a hard stare as he loomed over him, but Hop was adamant about avoiding eye contact with him. “I’m not _trying_ to make this bad for you. I want you to be happy.”

Hop scoffed, and it honestly surprised the hell out of Raihan to hear some of his spite surfacing, but it was welcome compared to how he’d been acting. Raihan didn’t care if Hop wanted to snap at him. Let him.

Hop finally drew his head up then to face Raihan, and he only shot him a small glare before speaking. “If you think locking me up and forcing me to stay here is going to make me happy, then you’re even crazier than I thought.”

Raihan shrugged. Hop wasn’t wrong, and he wasn’t going to pretend the kid wasn’t wrong either. “Maybe. You may not believe me, but I didn’t want this to happen either, Hop.”

The look the kid gave him suggested—no, he didn’t believe a damn word he said, but Raihan couldn’t fault him for that. Hop was completely in the right to mistrust him right now.

But despite that, he kept on. “Not to cry my heart out to you or nothin’, but have you really never noticed how I’ve felt about you? Even after all these years?” It was a genuine question, because while Raihan and Hop weren’t strangers by any means, Raihan never knew if he could consider them friends either. Hop knew him through Leon, but from his end, Raihan was just an older kid who hung around his big brother, and with Hop being as young as he’d been, there wasn’t much room for him to pal around with the big kids by the time Leon had become champion and was off doing his own things. There was never room there for Raihan to make a connection with Hop like he really wanted.

Because if Raihan had had his way, this entire thing didn’t have to happen. Hop wouldn’t be sitting here on his bed, glowering up at him as though on edge that Raihan would reach out and grab him. If Raihan had his way with things, he and Hop would have been friends a long, long time ago. Hop could have gotten to know him, and maybe if Raihan charmed him enough, maybe Hop could have even fallen in love with him too. Things could have been so different, and it wasn’t fair that Raihan had to suffer all these years alone with this love he’d been holding onto for someone who didn’t think of him as anything other than an acquaintance at best.

It was nobody’s fault but his own, however. Raihan got cold feet, because he knew how insane it would sound if he ever mentioned to Leon that he had feelings for his little brother. His little brother who, by all accounts, was much, much younger than him. Leon would have flayed him alive if he ever mentioned that to him when they were teenagers, because even Raihan knew his weird fixation on Hop was creepy when he started having fantasies of the kid when he was—a _kid_.

Try as he might to forget about Hop and move forward, Raihan couldn’t do that. The older the kid got, the more his fear grew that he might drift so far away that they would lose any and all sense of association, and Raihan knew it would kill him if Hop ever found someone else to share his affections with. The only reason he didn’t have a complete breakdown over Hop having a crush on Gloria was because Raihan knew she wasn’t interested in him. If she had reciprocated, Raihan might have lost his mind, and that in itself was crazy as fucking fuck to be so far gone like he was that he couldn’t handle the idea of someone he loved being with someone else.

And Raihan could accept it if Hop never returned his feelings. It hurt, of course it fucking hurt to imagine a life with Hop where he never loved him back, but at the same time, Raihan would rather keep Hop with him, even if it meant the kid hated him, even if it meant he loathed every second that he was with him, but he would rather keep Hop with him than to see him with someone else, someone who didn’t appreciate him. Because in the end, it didn’t matter if Hop loved him or not, but Raihan would be damned if he didn’t prove to this kid that he was the only person who ever realized he was more than simply being Leon’s little brother before anybody ever thought about doing.

He just…

Raihan bit his lip, his chest feeling tight all of a sudden.

 _He just loved him so much._ He wished Hop would understand that. Even if he never loved him back, Raihan would be content with the fact that Hop at least knew his feelings were genuine and Raihan would never, ever hurt him.

Hop never did answer his question and Raihan knew this conversation was going nowhere, but he sucked in a huff of air before letting it out. “Kid.” His cheeks flushed with heat, as Raihan wasn’t used to being so earnest with someone like this, usually hiding behind his own defensive walls, but when it came to Hop, he wanted to lay it all out for him, to prove what he meant to him, and how he had always felt. “Hop, I’ve loved you for a long time. This isn’t an excuse, but the only reason you’re here right now is because I was desperate. I saw an opportunity and I took it.” He was digging his own grave admitting that, but it wasn’t like Raihan hadn’t long crossed that point of no return. Hop was finally making eye contact with him, though with a very prominent glare this time, but it compelled Raihan to keep going, at least glad he’d gotten his attention. “Do you know how many times I’ve had to bite my tongue not to say something to you back then? I mean—you’ve never once left my mind after all these years, Hop. I’ve been crazy about you from the start.”

Raihan couldn’t help it. With his cheeks gushing heat now as he was getting excited laying all this out for him, he smiled at him, having to fight with the nerves that were bundling down in his stomach.

“I-I wanted to talk to you for so long, but it never panned out that way. Sometimes I’d invited myself over to your house to hang out with Leon just so I could see you.”

He was saying _way_ too much, Raihan knew, but he was already in this deep, so what would a little more hurt? It wasn’t like Hop would be going anywhere anymore, so he may as well be fucking honest for once.

Hop’s glare had slowly started to fall the entire time Raihan spoke, though now his expression suggested Hop was about to throw up. His face had paled in that short amount of time, and he lifted his chin away from his knees that were still bunched up to his chest, staring up at Raihan as though he were witnessing a train crashing in front of his eyes and not Raihan baring his soul to him. But he opened his mouth, lip quivering when Hop spoke.

“Wh-why…why didn’t you say anything before?”

Raihan’s chest caved and he felt so frustrated that he couldn’t make Hop understand. “How could I, Hop?”

Hop’s eyes slowly trailed down, until his face had fallen once more, and he was now staring at a random spot on the carpet. “…does Lee know?”

Raihan blanched back at that, catching himself before he said something he’d regret. “Wh—fuck no, Leon doesn’t know. I don’t know how much hell I’d get if he ever found out back then how I felt about you.”

With his legs slowly drawing away from his chest until they dangled over the bed once more, Hop let out a small snort through his nose, though Raihan could tell it was out of spite. “Aren’t you basically admitting you’re a fucking psycho with all this? What are you trying to prove to me—that you’re even more insane than I already know you to be?”

“Hop, I just want you to know how I feel about you.”

“Yeah, you’ve already told me like a million times already, but it’s fucking bullshit.”

Raihan then clutched his head yet again when his temples began to throb. Holy shit, this was a bad idea to tell Hop all this, but there was no turning back now. “Kid, what the fuck do you think I’m going to do with you? Slice you up into pieces or something? If I wanted to kill you, I’d have done it already.”

There was a noticeable shift in Hop’s body language when he tensed, when he froze for a moment, but a moment was all it took for Raihan to catch himself and realize what he was saying.

That wasn’t really something he should be telling the person he kidnapped and locked up. Raihan quickly continued. “My point is—think about it, kid, if I was out to hurt you, if I went through all this trouble just to dispose of you or something, you wouldn’t be here right now. If I was just in this for the kicks, I certainly wouldn’t be putting this much effort into something just to get my dick wet. I’m keeping you here because _I love you_ , I’m buying you clothes so you can be comfortable, I’m feeding you so you’ll be taken care of. I’m not out to hurt you, I’m not doing all of this to torture you.” His chest felt tight, even as he caught Hop’s eyes glancing back and forth, like he wasn’t sure what to focus on, though he continued to remain stiff as though Raihan might snap and stab him or something. “Hop, I love you. I’ve always loved you. If you don’t believe me, that’s fine, but I’m going to prove it to you one way or another. Eventually, you’re going to understand why I’ve done all this, why I’ve gone through all this trouble, and you’re going to understand how much better off you are. This is for your own good.”

“Why?”

That simple question made Raihan stop and freeze when Hop let out a sigh, though he sounded incredibly tired now. Still not looking at him, he palms placed at the edge of the bed while his feet dangled off the side, Hop’s shoulders bunched up as he gazed off to the side, his brows pinched.

“I don’t understand why you like me. Or why you _think_ you like me. We’ve barely talked before this, I barely know you, but you so easily stand there and say shit like that as if it’s _nothing_ for you.” Then he finally looked up at him, Raihan able to see the hardness of his eyes even from behind his glasses. “I should be a nobody to you. Why aren’t you in love with Lee or somebody else? You know—somebody you’ve actually spoken two words to?”

“Hop, we’ve spoken before—”

But he cut him off and it was obvious that Hop was getting more heated the more this conversation went on.

“You barely know me! You can’t seriously stand there and feed me this bullshit about how in love you are with me. I mean—what the fuck is _wrong_ with you?”

 _Ugh_ , if he only knew.

Hop was practically yelling at him now which did nothing for Raihan’s headache, but he allowed him his spill, not interrupting him while he went off.

“Honestly, do you know how fucking insane you sound standing there telling me all this? Even if you had feelings a long time ago, why didn’t you _say something?_ What do you even _see_ in me? What the fuck is so special about me that you had to kidnap me and lock me up like this?” Hop’s voice was climbing higher and higher, until it sounded as though he were on the brink of hysterics and Raihan felt the back of his neck break out into a sweat. He hadn’t wanted this conversation to escalate like this, but he was at a loss for how to calm him down right now. Maybe it was better to allow Hop his outbursts until he wore himself out than to try and intervene and make things worse. “I just wanted to get through my gym challenge—I just wanted to try facing off against Lee in the pitch—there’s nothing remarkable about me at all, so— _I don’t understand_ , why the fuck would you ever be in love with _me?_ ” For a second there, Raihan thought he saw tears gather in the corner of Hop’s eyes, but he blinked them away before staring directly up at him, his brows pinched, his fists clenched, and his cheeks gushing red. “You should be in love with Lee—he’s the _fucking champion._ I’m a fucking _nobody._ ”

The moment those words left Hop’s mouth, Raihan was on him. He swooped down in one motion, crossing the small space between them until there was nothing left and he leaned into Hop, placing both arms on either side of him until his palms rested against the bed, and leered at him, not blinking as he made eye contact, as he was so close now, their noses almost touched, and Hop could do nothing but lean back slightly in some vain attempt to put distance between them.

Raihan’s voice was low, but he didn’t dare falter when he spoke. “Don’t you _fucking dare_ compare yourself to him, Hop. _You are not Leon_. You’re never going to _be_ Leon. Stop fucking thinking of yourself as lesser than him when you’re worth so much more than that.”

Hop was trembling beneath him, either from fear, or the close proximity between them, but a thin line of tears appeared that he tried desperately to blink away. When he spoke, his voice was no longer hysterical, but riddled with confusion and doubt. “Y-you should be in love with Lee… This doesn’t make any sense.”

“I don’t love Leon, I love _you_ , Hop. Is your own self-image so low that you can’t even fathom the idea I would be in love with you and not Leon?” And he couldn’t help but scoff, some of his own spite coming out with it. “As much as I’ve hung around that guy, he ain’t all that great, babe. Not boyfriend material—not for me. He’s cute, don’t get me wrong, but out of the both of you, I gotta say, you definitely got more sense than he does.”

Hop only gave him a hard stare, a stare that suggested he still wasn’t convinced, and Raihan felt like he was at his wit’s end by now, his head hurting him so much, he was ready to cut his conversation short, just so he could go get some pain reliever.

Instead, he gripped both sides of Hop’s arms. “Come here.” Without even allowing Hop the chance to gain his bearings, Raihan pulled him in, wrapping his arms around him and trapping Hop in a hug as he was pressed against his chest. At first, he didn’t feel any resistance from him, as it probably threw him off and he hadn’t had the proper chance to react, but when Raihan nuzzled his face into his hair, he could feel Hop’s palms trying to push against him, but he wasn’t going to let up until he had his say.

He wasn’t squeezing him, but Raihan definitely had Hop trapped where he couldn’t even push away from him, and the sound of the kid’s heavy breathing tipped him off to the fact he was scaring the shit out of him right now, but dammit—Raihan couldn’t help himself.

“Listen to me, kid, and you listen good.” He brought one hand up to cup the back of his head, pulling Hop’s face over until he was almost pressed into the crook of his neck. “You ain’t gotta believe me and I don’t expect you to, but I’m telling you this right now, once more. I _didn’t_ bring you here to hurt you. I’m _not_ interested in that stupid brother of yours, nor am I interested in anybody else. I only have eyes for you, Hop, and I mean it. I’ve been in love with you for _years_ , and that ain’t about to change anytime soon.” Hop’s breathing only became more erratic, until Raihan was certain he could feel the kid’s heart thumping against his own chest. “Stop thinking so low of yourself and for fuck’s sake, quit comparing your accomplishments to Leon’s. He ain’t the fucking criteria for what a great trainer should be, alright?” He pulled him in tighter, until he could feel Hop’s breath on his skin, and it gave him goosebumps. “I brought you here because I love you. I’m keeping you here because _I love you._ You’re not leaving, but I’m going to take good care of you, okay? I’m not going to abandon you, I’m not going to throw you away. I’m going to keep you with me and nobody—not Leon, not Gloria, not your mother or anybody else, is ever going to find you, got it? They don’t care about you, Hop.”

Only Raihan did. Only Raihan gave a damn about Hop. That’s why he was doing all this. He wouldn’t go through so much trouble unless it was for someone like Hop, someone he loved with his entire body, someone he wanted to protect and keep safe, someone he knew belonged with him, without a doubt. Raihan knew he had gone about this all wrong. He knew he probably should have said something long before things derailed into this, because he never wanted to lock Hop up like this, he never wanted to keep the kid caged up against his will, but the damage was done, and Raihan was going to have to try his best to keep things as normal as possible. Though, nothing about this was normal, he knew.

Raihan knew he was at fault. Hop didn’t have to tell him that. He’d done some pretty lofty shit in his life, but this took the damn cake by a long shot. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try his best to make sure Hop was as comfortable as possible, though just when that thought crossed his mind, he felt Hop resist below him, attempting to pull his face away from his neck, and he could hear all the more clearer how much Hop was struggling to keep his breathing normal and not freak out.

“S-stop saying things like that.” He trembled, Raihan able to feel his entire body quaking since he was pressed right up against him, Hop pushing at his chest in a feeble attempt to pull away, but Raihan wasn’t letting up. “They’re my family—of course they care about me. How can you even say something like that when you know it’s not true?”

At that, Raihan let out a long, drawn out sigh before he finally unraveled his arms from around Hop, gripping hold of his arms to keep him steady before he leaned off him. Hop was still shivering, his eyes wide with what Raihan could only assume was encroaching fear, but he only gave the kid a lidded, pitying stare.

“You really have no idea how they treat you, do you, Hop? I know they’re your family and you love them and I ain’t saying you can’t love your family and think the best of them, but the truth of the matter is they _don’t_ appreciate you. They take you for granted and that’s just facts, babe.”

Still shivering, Hop’s brow knitted together and Raihan could tell if he wasn’t holding him in his arms right now, Hop would probably be biting back a lot harsher than he was, but his voice was trembling so much, it was impossible for him to appear the least bit intimidating. Raihan knew if he wanted, he could break this kid with his strength, and Hop had to know how much of a disadvantage he was. They both knew Raihan was bigger, stronger, but he would never, ever dream of using that to hurt this kid. He loved him.

Hop’s lip quivered when he attempted to bite back, but it fell so flat, it was almost laughable. “L-Lee’s p-p-probably out there looking f-for me right now. I-I-I don’t know what sick game y-you’re trying to pull by t-telling me all this, but I’m not falling for it.”

Raihan rolled his eyes, though not necessarily at Hop, but more so at the fact he knew Leon wasn’t out there searching for his brother like he should have been. Guy couldn’t even be bothered to make a small PSA announcement or _anything_. Not even a social media post. Nothing. Nothing just to say keep an eye out for Hop. It didn’t even have to be a full-blown investigation with the police involved, but just _something_ to show that the guy gave two shits.

Raihan’s grip on Hop’s arms waned, but he didn’t let go. “You’ve been watching the telly all week, so tell me—how many news reports have you seen suggesting anyone’s been on the lookout for you? I know you’ve been watching the local reports, and Leon appears in quite a few of them, so how many have you seen that suggest any indication people are looking for you?”

At that, Hop bit his bottom lip, and Raihan knew he had him trapped, because the truth was just that—there were no reports on him. Nobody even knew that he was missing and even if they did, Raihan doubted they would care, because nobody gave a shit about Hop when it boiled down to it. The only thing people cared about was the champion, the best of the best, and as skillful as Hop was a trainer, he still wasn’t considered one of the best, so he was never even on people’s radar.

Hop never replied. Not that Raihan expected him to, and he pulled himself up until he was standing at his full height, still giving Hop that pitying stare, and the kid never once stopped shivering.

“Hop, I’m just trying to look out for you. I don’t want you putting false hope into something that’s just going to disappoint you later.”

“Y-you’re lying.” His voice cracked, Hop’s defenses having all but fallen, until Raihan was left with nothing but the shivering, quivering true side of Hop who was scared to death, and Raihan sighed when Hop pulled away from him ever so slightly to no avail. “Th-they j-j-just haven’t said anything yet, b-because Lee’s keeping it under wraps. He’s going to find me.”

“Nobody’s looking for you and you know it.” Nothing he said was going to get through to him, he knew that, but still, Raihan couldn’t help when he gave in a bit to his desperation as he lowered himself down to his knees, until he and Hop were almost face-level with one another, his hands still wrapped around Hop’s arms, and he moved into him before burying his face into the crook of Hop’s neck to kiss him.

Hop sucked in a breath, his limbs seizing up as he blanched back, but froze once Raihan pressed his mouth against him, as Raihan kissed the side of his throat before encasing his whole mouth around him and sucked. There were clusters of bruises along Hop’s throat and collarbone from the night before where Raihan had gotten too eager, but he took extra care in gently kissing the dark spots that had formed overnight. Hop tensed when Raihan took the strap of his tank top in between his teeth, pulling it down the side of his shoulder where he kissed the bare skin until Hop attempted to push at him yet again.

“R-Raihan, wait…” His voice was small, but Raihan could hear the fear bubbling underneath it, and he only gave him a small, fleeting kiss to his shoulder.

“Don’t be scared, baby, I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“I-I don’t—” Hop swallowed, his words audibly choked when he did so. “I-I can’t—not after last night— _please_ …”

“I’m not gonna fuck you, don’t worry.” Every other word he spoke, Raihan planted a kiss against Hop’s shoulder, his collarbone, his throat—anywhere he could reach, he kissed him, licking the darker hickies that were displayed so prominently, evidence of their dalliance from last night. “I know you can’t handle it right now, so I’m not gonna do that. Just relax and let me do this.”

“I-I don’t _want_ this. Just leave me alone.”

“Babe, I’m not asking you to do anything to me. I know last night was hard on you, so let me make it up to you.”

Hop attempted to push at his chest when Raihan released one of his arms to lift the hem of his tank top, exposing his stomach, but Hop may as well have not even bothered trying to push against him, because they both knew it wouldn’t do any good.

“I don’t _want_ you to make it up to me. Get off.”

“I’m not arguing with you about this, so you may as well save your breath, because I’m going to do this whether you like it or not.” With that said, Raihan leaned away from him, having readjusted his hold on Hop so that he couldn’t squirm away from him. “Kid, this ain’t _bad_ , and like I said, I’m not gonna make you do anything to me, but I feel like sucking your cock, so that’s what I’m gonna do, and you can lie back, enjoy it, moan all you want—I don’t care, or I can hold you down kicking and screaming, and you can cry about it, but I’m still going to do it, so pick one.”

Hop’s face turned bright red, his eyes wide as Raihan spoke, and he knew he was being cruel to him right now, after trying so hard to reassure him, but right now, Raihan had run out of patience. Not only was his head killing him, but he was steadily getting hard as he sat there kissing Hop, and he’d already made up his mind that he wanted to do this, so he was going to follow through. Whether or not Hop wanted to be difficult was his call, but either one of those worked for Raihan, as he had no qualms about holding him down and forcing it, but he’d much rather Hop lie back and enjoy himself. This was Raihan’s way of apologizing, as it was the only thing he could think of to do for the kid right now, but it wouldn’t kill Hop to learn to sit there and enjoy something like this and realize being intimate wasn’t something scary. Raihan just wanted him to have fun, that’s all.

Hop shivered, if possible, even more, until his entire body was trembling, a thin line of tears having formed back in his eyes, but he blinked them away, the red sheen of his face only traveling down to his neck. “I-I-I don’t u-understand why you want to do this. F-for fuck’s sake, Raihan, I _don’t_ understand you.”

“You will one day, baby, don’t worry. Don’t be scared. This isn’t anything scary, I just want you to feel good.”

Hop’s lip quivered, but instead of responding, he merely cast his gaze at a random spot behind Raihan’s head, refusing to look at him, the line of tears in his eyes threatening to fall any second. Raihan let out a tired sigh when he leaned away from him. The least he could do was make a compromise.

“Do you wanna lie on your back so you don’t have to look at me? You can close your eyes if you want. Whatever makes you feel more comfortable.”

Hop tensed, not replying immediately, and Raihan worried for a moment that he might snap and fight him, but to his utter surprise, after a long bout of silence in which Hop let out several shaky breaths, the kid slowly nodded his head, and Raihan smiled.

“Alright, we’ll do that then. Come on.” Finally releasing Hop, Raihan straightened himself up before looping his arms up underneath his knees, pulling Hop up bridal style when he crawled onto the bed with him. Gently as he could, he placed Hop near the headboard, straightening his legs out for him before Raihan sat back on his own knees, not quite straddling him, but hunched over him just enough he began to work his shorts off him. Hop tensed below him as Raihan untangled his shorts from around his ankles, placing them to the side to grab for later and he smiled down at the sight of Hop’s bare legs and underwear displayed before him. “You’re so beautiful, baby, I never get tired of lookin’ at you.”

This whole time, Raihan had been slowly pitching a tent, and it was then that he noticed Hop’s eyes trailing down to the bulge in his shorts, a look of horror flashing across his face, but Raihan gave him a reassuring pat against his thigh.

“It’s okay, I promise I won’t fuck you. I don’t have my lube anyway.” Though Raihan could always just go down the hall and get his bottle, he didn’t want to overwhelm Hop by fucking him again so soon, as despite how he’d gone out of his way to prepare him so that it wouldn’t hurt, he knew he was probably still sore from it. This was more about Hop’s gratification than his own, but that didn’t mean Raihan couldn’t get some pleasure out of it either. “Just lie back and relax.”

Though Hop never once relaxed while Raihan worked, he could tell the kid had more or less accepted the fact this was going to happen and chose to simply take it rather than fight him off. Raihan didn’t like the idea of holding him down and forcing it, but he wasn’t averse to it either, especially when he was practically salivating at wanting to suck his cock so bad right now, but he was pleased that Hop had chosen to go along with him. Maybe it was proof that the kid was coming around, slowly but surely.

At least, Raihan wanted to think he was coming around to this. He still fantasized about Hop coming to him one day to beg him for this, as Raihan would be all too happy to oblige if Hop wanted his cock sucked, it didn’t matter what Raihan was in the middle of doing, he’d drop everything if it mean pleasing Hop.

“That’s it, baby, you’re doing so good for me.” When he bent back over him to tease the edges of his underwear, Raihan dipped his head between his legs, kissing the inside of Hop’s thigh and gaining a rather uncomfortable sounding gasp from Hop when he did. He laughed through his nose as he trailed his tongue up along his thigh, only pausing to pepper kisses here and there. “Don’t be scared. I won’t hurt you.”

The moment he pressed his mouth against Hop’s bulge through his underwear, the kid shivered below him, letting out a shaky breath that rattled so loud, it was one of the only sounds in the room then, and Raihan reached underneath him to cup his underside while he continued his teasing. He opened his mouth, encasing Hop’s bulge in his warmth, cupping his lips around his cock through his underwear the best he could. It was probably cruel to play with him like this, but Raihan couldn’t help it. All he wanted was for Hop to enjoy himself, and the feeling of his cock twitching against his mouth only compelled him to keep going. Hop may not have been saying anything, as the kid had eventually turned his face away from him, covering his eyes underneath his glasses with his hands, but Raihan could feel how his shivers were turning into writhes of pleasure. Hop probably didn’t realize he was bucking his hips up into him, but Raihan noticed. _Fuck_ , did he notice.

While Raihan didn’t plan to edge him or anything, his own arousal was only growing while he played with Hop through his underwear, and the moment he tasted the precum through the fabric, Hop having gotten hard so easily through the teasing alone, Raihan finally pulled away from him, smiling as he marveled his work. The kid wasn’t hard to get excited, as he was still young, but it still made Raihan swell with happiness at the fact he’d been the one to get him off like this. This display was for _him_ —the only reason Hop was dribbling precum down his cock was because Raihan was doing it for him.

And that made him incredibly happy.

“Alright, enough playing around. Let’s get to the main event, shall we?” With that said, Raihan gripped the sides of Hop’s underwear, pulling them down around his hips, past his knees, and eventually placing them next to his shorts on the bed before Raihan reached underneath him to cup hold of Hop’s ass, propping him up enough he could reach him comfortably. Hop shivered underneath him, never once uncovering his face while Raihan worked, and he could see Hop gritting his teeth as he fought to keep himself still and pliant for him, which only pleased Raihan with how compliant he was. _See?_ This didn’t have to be bad. Hop didn’t have to fight him.

Bending over once more, he kissed the inside of Hop’s thigh, gaining a violent shiver from him.

“Don’t be embarrassed, Hop. I’m the only one looking at you, and _damn_ —do I like what I see.” He laughed through his nose, fitting his face between Hop’s legs before he dragged his bottom lip up from the base of his cock to the tip, and Hop gasped below him. He offered him a smile, though it was a useless gesture seeing as how Hop had his eyes covered, but Raihan hoped he could hear the smile when he spoke. “You don’t have to be scared, okay? I ain’t gonna hurt you.” He kissed the side of Hop’s cock, gripping hold of him by the base as gently as he could before putting his mouth over him.

In an instant, Hop choked out a gasp, tensing up below him, but Raihan could feel it when he thrusted up into his mouth—holy fuck, the kid was eager, and he probably didn’t realize what he was doing, but it only made Raihan chuckled in the back of his throat. He was pleased to see Hop be into this, and what kind of person would he be not to give Hop what he wanted? Raihan wasn’t a selfish lover by any means, and he bobbed his head up and down as he sucked Hop’s cock, licking the trail of precum as he worked.

Hop’s gasps turned to muffled moans above him as Raihan sucked, trying to create a rhythm and drag it out for him as much as possible, but with Hop being so young, he knew the kid was coming to his limit any minute now. He’d already gotten him off enough to know Hop couldn’t control himself and came too fast. Not that Raihan judged him for it—hell, he was a teenager once too, he knew all too well about premature loads. He didn’t get where he was today where he could edge himself without having a go at his own dick to build his stamina up.

Hop had plenty of time to learn how to control himself, and Raihan didn’t mind helping him with it at all.

Plus, while Raihan knew it was just because Hop was young, he liked to imagine that he got off so easily because Raihan was just that amazing at what he did, but he tried not to let that go to his head, in more ways than one. Speaking of head, Raihan was still hard, and while he worked on moving up and down on Hop’s cock, the kid now thrusting up into his mouth with conviction, he reached down with his free hand to paw at himself through his shorts. It shouldn’t have gotten him off this much to see Hop writhing beneath him like this, but damn—he could already feel the precum seeping out, and he reached through the waistband of his shorts, pulling back his own underwear to grip hold of his cock to pump himself.

It would feel so much better if he could grab his lube and fuck Hop again, but he couldn’t do that so soon after last night. If he went at Hop too much, he might wind up hurting him, even if he prepared him, there was a limit to how much this kid could handle his cock, and Raihan could always jerk off to satiate himself until he was confident Hop could handle him again.

He didn’t want to just fuck him silly every day. Even though it felt amazing, Raihan knew he’d have to hold off on him to get the kid used to him. Besides, he didn’t mind sucking his cock like this to get him off, as long as it meant Hop enjoyed himself, Raihan would suck his cock all day long if he wanted, if Hop asked him to.

Using his own precum as lube, Raihan trailed his hand from the tip of his cock, slathering his cum against himself, all the way down to the base and he moaned against Hop as he pleasured himself, thrusting up into his own hand as he worked. Hop was trying so hard to grit his teeth and keep the sounds from escaping, but Raihan could hear plain as day the moans vibrating in the back of his throat, and he began to bob faster, working his tongue up alongside him as he sucked. His own orgasm was creeping, but Raihan could hold off until Hop came, as he was used to denying himself orgasm for much longer than this, but he knew any minute now Hop wouldn’t be able to hold back anymore, and just when that thought crossed his mind—Hop’s spine arched backward when he quivered below him, his legs coming together to squish Raihan’s face slightly, but he only took his opposite hand that wasn’t pumping himself to grip hold of his thighs to keep him spread as with a final, muffled moan, Hop came inside his mouth.

His cum spurted straight to the back of his throat and had Raihan not been used to it by now, it would’ve made him gag, but he swallowed it, still sucking up and down to ride it out for Hop as much as possible. The kid spasmed below him, having uncovered his face just to reach out and grip hold of the blankets, squeezing it between his fingers as he rode out his orgasm. And holy shit—Raihan never, _ever_ wanted to get used to those sounds he made. Hop’s moans were breathy, high-pitched, just short of crying out as he heaved in gulps of air, gasping and breathing heavy—and shit, it only fueled Raihan’s pleasure hearing how vocal he was. He couldn’t get enough of those sounds Hop made, the way his body felt below him when he orgasmed, when he displayed all of his pleasure, displayed it all for Raihan, and Raihan drank it up like it was something tangible.

He finally leaned away from him once Hop quieted, his limbs growing limp after the high of orgasm left him, and he melted into the bed, his breathing steady, his face gushing heat to the point it fogged his glasses, but even through the steam, Raihan could see his eyes glazed over in pleasure, with a faraway look to them, and he continued pumping himself. This was taking advantage of Hop, he knew, but with him lying beneath him like he was, spent from his orgasm, Raihan didn’t think it would hurt if he were to grind against him a little. Just enough to heighten his own pleasure.

He’d promised he wouldn’t go inside, and he wasn’t, but he knew this would placate the aching desire on his end so without another thought, he pulled his cock out from underneath his underwear, pulling his shorts down his hips just enough that he was exposed, and it twitched once the cool air hit it. Letting go of himself for only a moment, Raihan gripped the underside of Hop’s knees, pulling him up by both legs until his thighs were pressed together, and he placed the tip of his erection between his legs. If he could just fuck himself between his thighs, it would feel so much better than if he were to just jack himself off.

That whole time, Hop had been unmoving underneath him, still breathing and coming down from the high, but the moment he felt Raihan press his dick against his legs, he bolted up so fast that his glasses almost fell off his face. And the look in his eyes then made Raihan’s blood run cold.

“W- _Wait!_ ” He was terrified, he was absolutely fucking terrified, his chest heaving as he struggled to breathe, as he reached across to grab hold of Raihan’s wrists while he held his legs together in an attempt to pry him off, and Hop’s voice had climbed to a pitch so high, that he was practically sobbing. “D-DON’T—D-DON’T DO IT—I-I _CAN’T!_ PLEASE, RAIHAN, DON’T— _Y-YOU SAID YOU WOULDN’T!_ ”

“Hop—Hop! Calm down!” Raihan quickly pulled his cock away from Hop’s legs and jerked his wrists out from Hop’s grip before he reached over to wrap his arm around him and keep him from pulling away. In one swift movement, he had pulled Hop into his lap, looping his arm around him to keep him steady while Hop thrashed and kicked below him. “I wasn’t going to put it in!”

“LIAR! YOU’RE A LIAR!” Hop was screaming at him now, clawing at him, pushing against his chest to try and get away from him, and Raihan was struggling to keep a hold of him with one arm as Hop broke down into a complete panic below him. “LET GO OF ME! PLEASE— _PLEASE_ , RAIHAN, _DON’T DO THIS TO ME! LET GO OF ME! **PLEASE!**_ ” And he was sobbing now, the hysterics clawing their way out his throat as he

“Hop, I’m _not_ going to fuck you!” His heart was pounding, Raihan having to use his full strength in order to keep Hop planted in his lap, but still, the kid was pushing against him, trying to draw his legs up and kick him, trying to push against him and get away, but Raihan only wrapped both arms around him, keeping him thoroughly trapped. “Hop, for fuck’s sake, _I wasn’t going to put it in!_ ”

The worst part about this was the way Hop was thrashing, he was only rubbing against Raihan’s cock, which was still exposed and still hard. Hop probably didn’t realize that throughout all his flailing around, he was actually rubbing up against him, and it was making Raihan moan, especially against his bare skin like this. Oh fuck—if the kid didn’t stop, he was going to—

“H-Hop, I’m gonna…” He bit his bottom lip, trying to hold back, but Hop wasn’t calming down, still sobbing in his arms and attempting to push away from him, and Raihan couldn’t help but thrust up against him while he unintentionally rubbed up against his cock. “I-if you don’t stop, I-I’m gonna come…”

But Hop wasn’t even hearing what he was saying anymore. The kid had completely lost it, and he was still writhing against him, crying, sobbing, incoherent shouts being the only thing he was capable of while he pushed and pulled away from him.

“Hop—H-Hop, I-I’m g-gonna _—Hop, u-uhnnn—!_ ” And Raihan couldn’t take it anymore. Hop wasn’t listening to him, and as he flailed around, as he only continued rubbing against Raihan’s cock, he thrusted up against his bare thigh, his grip around him only tightening when his orgasm hit and he buried his face into the crook of Hop’s neck, clinging to him, pulling him close, as close as he could go when he choked out a moan, when his cum spurted out, when Raihan sucked in air between his teeth, trying to hold back the urge to sink his teeth into Hop’s throat when the ecstasy clouded his mind so much that he forgot where he was for a second.

And just like that—everything stopped.

Hop stopped fighting against him, frozen as Raihan clung to him for dear life, as he hadn’t meant to, but with the position they were in, some of his cum had landed against Hop’s thighs, and it was like night and day. One moment the kid was screaming at him, crying, losing his fucking mind, but now he was quiet, his breathing stilted and shaking, but he remained still in Raihan’s lap. Raihan gripped the back of Hop’s shirt, his face still buried into the crook of his neck, and he kissed him, his whole body feeling like lead after the high of orgasm left him, and he shakily kissed the side of Hop’s throat.

“K-kid, I love you.” He kissed him again, squeezing his shirt between his fingers like Hop might blow away in the wind. “I wasn’t—I-I wasn’t going to fuck you, kid. I swear. I-I just wanted to touch you.” His rapid heartbeat was slowly dying away when everything came to a standstill. The excitement had worn him out, but the important part was that Hop seemed to have calmed down, though Raihan wasn’t sure if it was because he was finally aware of what he was trying to do, or if he was in shock at this point, but he kept his arms wrapped around him, keeping Hop as close as he could. “I-I didn’t mean to hurt you, kid. I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”

He kissed his neck again, leaning off enough to finally get a look at Hop’s face, and the sight of his reddened cheeks, his downcast eyes, bloodshot from crying so much was enough to break Raihan’s heart into pieces.

Slowly, he began to pull his arms back from around him, until Hop wasn’t pressed so far against his chest, but the kid didn’t move. Didn’t look at him. He only breathed and shivered slightly as they sat there, as the pandemonium from before died down.

“Kid…” Raihan reached up with his thumb to wipe the tear stains from his face before he kissed his cheek. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Hop didn’t respond. Not that he expected him to, but he gave him another kiss, taking the palm of his hand to rub soothing circles on his back in an effort to comfort him.

“Hop, are you okay?” That was a dumb question, he knew, but he hated sitting in this silence with only Hop’s quieted breathing being the only sound coming from him. “I should have told you what I was doing.” He didn’t expect Hop to freak out like that, but holy fuck—Raihan’s heart was still thumping in his chest, and he didn’t exactly want to sit here holding Hop with his cum smeared all on his legs like this, so he let out a sigh. After rubbing a few more circles onto his back, hoping he was calm enough now not to panic again, Raihan gently lifted Hop off his lap as he scooped him into his arms, placing him back down onto the bed so that Raihan could crawl off the bed and stand up.

After fixing himself back into his shorts, he made his way to Hop’s bathroom, fetching a washcloth before he ran hot water over it, squirting a small amount of soap into the mix before he exited back into the bedroom. Hop hadn’t moved a muscle as he only sat atop the bed, his gaze glued to the wrinkled bed sheets below him.

As gently as he could so as not to alarm him, Raihan crawled back over the bed to him, and gripped hold of his glasses before he pulled them off his face, placing them next to the pillow. He took the warm cloth and dabbed at the tear stains on Hop’s cheeks, the kid not moving a muscle the whole time Raihan cleaned him up. His cheeks were a faint red, but Hop sat there for him even when Raihan cleaned the cum stains off his thighs for him. He worked deliberately and gently, making sure not to move too suddenly in case Hop had another meltdown, but the longer he spent cleaning him, the more confident he grew that Hop was calmed down for the most part.

Once his cum was cleaned from his thighs, Raihan set the washcloth aside before grabbing Hop’s underwear and straightening it out. He patted the side of his leg. “Come on, I’ll dress you.” When he moved off the bed, Hop followed, although with much more reluctance, but still, Raihan was pleased to see he hadn’t shut down completely. With the both of them standing from the bed now, Raihan bent down while he began to slide Hop’s underwear up his legs, doing the same with his shorts and grabbing his glasses for him until Hop was dressed once again. His cheeks were still red, as Raihan knew he was treating him like a child, but he just didn’t know what else to do right now. He felt so awful he had scared him the way he did, and he was kicking himself in the balls for not being upfront with him and telling him what he was doing. _Of course_ , Hop thought he was going to fuck him—he had done absolutely nothing to warrant this kid’s trust and he fucking _knew_ that.

Raihan sighed, the throbbing of his head returning once more, but it was more out of exhaustion than anything right now.

“Hop.”

The kid didn’t react, not that he expected him to, but Raihan patted the top of his head, running his fingers through his short locks as he did so.

“I’m sorry.”

Hop said nothing, not even when Raihan pulled his fingers away from his hair, lowering himself down to his knees until he was more face-level with him, and he gripped Hop’s arm before pulling him close yet again and hugging him. Raihan nuzzled his face against his, kissing his cheek as he did so, but Hop never said a word to him.

With Hop in his arms like this, Raihan rocked him back and forth, hoping that if nothing else, this would bring him some form of comfort, as small and minuscule as it might be, Raihan wanted to give him any ounce he could possibly afford to give him right now. Hop never hugged back. Not that Raihan expected it, but he sighed before giving him one last kiss against his cheek.

“I love you, Hop.” He never meant to scare him. He never meant for any of this to happen, and it broke his heart that there wasn’t much he could do for the kid right now except be there for him and assure him Raihan wasn’t going to hurt him.

“I mean it, kid.” Raihan buried his face into his neck, holding Hop as though he would disappear if he didn’t keep him close, if he didn’t cling to him like this. He only hoped that Hop could believe him, that maybe through his words alone, Hop would come to understand how deep his feelings for him ran one day. Raihan hoped he knew how much he loved him. How much he meant to him. “I love you _so much._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, i appreciate your support! :D it means a lot


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh boy this one's a doozy. 
> 
> PROCEED WITH CAUTION this chapter is very very mean though not necessarily violent, but still. 
> 
> I'M SORRY HOP ;0;

All the rest of that day and Friday, Raihan figured it would be best to keep his distance from Hop. After that whole debacle in his bedroom, he knew he needed space, but it was so hard to keep himself in check sometimes and resist the urge to scoop him up in his arms so he could hold and cuddle him. But Hop didn’t need that right now. Raihan had fucked up, he _knew_ he’d fucked up by doing what he did, but he didn’t have any intentions of harming that kid, but…now he probably thought Raihan was some kind of monster.

And well—

That wasn’t necessarily a lie, was it?

Raihan sighed to himself, having spent the majority of Saturday letting the kid have his peace as well. He was supposed to meet up with Leon tonight, and he had only packed a small bag of extra clothes to take with him since he was spending the night. It was one thing to leave the kid all day back when the tournament was happening, but now Raihan was going to have to leave him overnight, and that didn’t really set well with him at all. This whole thing was his own stupid plan, and he still intended to follow through with it, but he just wished there was an easier way that didn’t involve being away from Hop.

Just forcing himself to keep his distance while the both of them were only rooms apart was agony in itself. He knew come tomorrow morning, he was going to be losing his fucking mind, but he only hoped Leon continued his tradition of being a lightweight and didn’t question him if he wanted to hightail it out of there as soon as he woke up.

It was only a few hours past noon by the time Raihan started walking around and grabbing his things, stuffing his extra clothes into a knapsack while he did a small walkthrough of the apartment. Just to make _absolutely_ sure there was no exit Hop could get out of, and the only thing he’d found were the windows, but they were so high up on this side of the tower that he seriously doubted Hop would be desperate enough to attempt his own suicide. Besides, he already had Goodra and Duraludon out and about, trying to get them acclimated with the whole situation. He hadn’t really taken the time to let his Pokémon get used to Hop, but he trusted the both of them to obey if he said to take care of things. They weren’t the violent types and he could trust his partners to take care of the kid while he was away at least.

 _Ughh_ , the closer it got time for Raihan to leave, the more he was regretting this. It was so tempting to just toss this idea, tell Leon to fuck off, and stay home with Hop, but he’d already set his mind to do this, so dammit, he was going to do it. And he thought he’d been doing a good job keeping his distance from Hop the past couple days especially after what transpired in the bedroom, but now he was really going to be away from him overnight, and that realization was sinking in more and more.

It was time to leave.

The sun was close to setting, Goodra and Duraludon had been wandering around the apartment, Goodra being the more curious one and attempting to check on Hop a few times, while Duraludon wandered around mostly doing his own thing. Raihan picked them for a reason, as should anything happen to Hop, Duraludon would protect him. His Goodra tended to have a more tender spot and she would be good company for him at least while Duraludon was only a backup for protection. Either way, Raihan knew Hop was in good hands with them.

Just before he left that evening, his knapsack tossed around his shoulder, he quickly entered through Hop’s door, finding him sitting on the corner of his bed. He hadn’t bothered him for a while, except to bring him food or do general checkups on him, but he could tell the kid was avoiding him. Not that he blamed him. Raihan would avoid himself too, but now he stood in front of him, Hop having bunched his knees up to his chest while he stared straight ahead.

“Goodra and Duraludon are out. Don’t be scared of ‘em, they won’t hurt you. Duraludon is a bit more standoffish than Goodra, so he might not be good company, but if anything happens, he’ll protect you.” As he spoke, Goodra poked her head in through the door, eyeing the pair from the doorway, and Raihan waved her over. Hop still didn’t say a word, only tensed a bit when Goodra approached the bed, eyeing him curiously. “Feel free to get up, do whatever you want. Sleep on the couch if you want. All I ask is if you cook something, feed the scraps to Duraludon and try to clean up after yourself.” Though Raihan wasn’t the tidiest person in the world, he knew Hop wasn’t the type of person to make a mess and leave it, but he still felt the need to say it for some reason.

The kid nodded, though incredibly slow.

“Alright. That should be it.” He really wished he could tell the kid he could contact him if he needed him, but that was out of the question. Still—it was on the tip of his tongue. He wished he could be telling him things like that now, that he was only a call away and he’d drop all his stuff to come to him if he wanted.

Fuck was it hard, but Hop wasn’t allowed to have a phone, and Raihan seriously doubted if he’d ever be able to trust him with one either. It just seemed like such a faraway idea, especially considering he hadn’t even convinced the kid this was his new home now. This was going to be a long process, Raihan knew, getting him warmed up and everything, but he had already told himself he’d be here for him every step of the way to help him until Hop was comfortable living with him. He loved him after all, and Raihan didn’t mind waiting for him, no matter how long it took.

This was supposed to be a good thing. Not something scary. Not something bad. Hop was supposed to be happy with him.

But that just wasn’t the way things were right now.

As Goodra stretched her long neck along the bed next to Hop, trying to nuzzle his hand and entice him into petting her, Raihan readjusted the strap of his knapsack before rubbing at the back of his head. His neck prickled with sweat when his cheeks heated up, because he couldn’t help himself. He’d been holding back and letting Hop have his space, but now that he was leaving, he nervously shuffled on his feet, hoping what he was about to say would freak the kid out.

“U-um…kid?”

Hop’s only response of acknowledgement was a twitch of his fingers when Goodra pressed her snout against him.

Raihan swallowed. “Before I leave…c-can I have a goodbye kiss?” Normally, Raihan wasn’t so flustered when asking for something like that, but he knew he needed to slow down so that he wouldn’t cause another meltdown like the other day. Hop was so much more sensitive than he realized, and it only hammered in the fact he’d done some very, very adult things with him that Hop was nowhere near ready for. Shit—he really should have eased him into this before going wild.

Hop didn’t answer but outstretched his hand toward Goodra as she rubbed against him, and he pat her head. The lack of response was only making Raihan more desperate, and he felt cold sweat start beading his forehead.

“Please, Hop? I won’t do nothing else, I promise.”

At that, Hop finally drew his face up and looked at him, though the way his lidded expression gazed at him suggested he didn’t believe him at all. Or at least remained suspicious of what he had up his sleeve.

Honestly, Raihan didn’t have time to play around with him and actually rub one out, but he didn’t want to leave him here all night without _something_ to remember him by. It was more for Raihan’s own gratification than Hop’s, as he knew this was going to kill him being away from the kid all night, but his pleading face must have shown through enough to convince him, because to his amazement, Hop lowered his gaze, stretched his legs out until he was sitting cross-legged, before he let out a resigning sigh.

“Whatever.”

That wasn’t a yes, but it wasn’t a no either. It was one of those non answers, but that was as good as Raihan was going to get, and it was hard keeping himself in check when his mouth instantly curled up into a smile. Bending over the bed to get more level with him, he was mindful of Goodra’s head now resting in Hop’s lap as he reached over to him, cupping Hop by his chin to lift his face back up to him. The kid had shut his eyes, obviously not in the mood to watch, and Raihan could see a very obvious gleam of blush coating his cheeks, which only made him chuckle a bit.

“You’re so cute, Hop. I can’t stand it sometimes.” It was true. The kid was fucking adorable, and it made it all the harder for Raihan not to drop his shit and just stay home with him.

But instead, he gently held Hop’s face up before leaning into him, pressing his mouth against his. It never failed to amaze him just how soft Hop’s lips were, and while he knew the kid didn’t do anything in particular to ensure they were this way, Raihan drank it up. Inhaling his scent as he kissed him, he was overwhelmed by the smell of whipped cream, and he knew if he didn’t stop now, he wasn’t going to ever stop.

As much as it pained him, as much as he wanted to stay here kissing Hop forever, Raihan finally found his restraint and pulled away, a soft sigh escaping his mouth as he did so, his cheeks heated. Kissing Hop always felt so good, so intimate, when there really wasn’t anything sexy about it at all, but it didn’t matter because everything about Hop was sexy to him.

The kid flinched back, having stopped petting Goodra that whole time, and reached up to wipe his arm across his mouth, causing Raihan to laugh. “Rubbing me in so you don’t forget me? How sweet of you, babe.”

The way Hop’s mouth quivered opened, Raihan knew something snarky was on the tip of his tongue, but he bit his bottom lip instead, his face so red that Raihan could practically feel the heat from where he stood. He could stay here all night teasing him, but Raihan had to get going, and he let out an exasperated sigh at the fact he didn’t feel like doing this anymore.

“Alright, Ima get goin’. I’ll be back sometime tomorrow.” And before he could stop himself, that stupid smile still glued to his face, Raihan ruffled Hop’s hair, gaining a rather adorable shiver from him when he did and causing Raihan to laugh through his nose. “I love you.”

Hop’s only response was to continue petting Goodra who never once moved her head from his lap. It seemed the two of them were getting on just fine, so that only reassured Raihan all the more the kid would be fine with them. It was easier to walk away then, shooting the kid a final smile before Raihan made his way down the hallway and out the front door.

* * *

The train ride to Wyndon couldn’t have taken longer if it tried. By the time Raihan disembarked, made a pit stop at the nearby convenience store to get booze, and strode down the sidewalk toward Leon’s apartment complex, the sun had set completely. He grumbled a bit in discontentment upon entering the apartment. Leon lived about three floors up and while Raihan could have just taken the elevator and saved his breath, he was so used to traveling up Hammerlocke castle’s arduous staircases that three flights was a cakewalk. Even with his knapsack and a bag of booze, Raihan barely broke a sweat by the time he made it up to Leon’s floor, and gave his friend’s front door a series of loud knocks.

In seconds flat, Leon had unlocked the door for him, offering him a tired, welcoming grin before stepping out of the way and allowing Raihan entry.

“Sup, champ?”

“Hey. Not a whole lot.” It was unusual to see Leon with his hair tied back, but Raihan often got so used to seeing him dressed in his uniform, striding around with that dumb cape and whatnot that he forgot that Leon didn’t dress like that all the time. Case in point, right now, Leon was dressed in a pair of shorts, a large t-shirt hanging low until it almost covered his shorts, and he was walking around barefooted. It almost looked like he’d only just now dragged himself out of bed, now that Raihan was getting a good look at him. The bags under his eyes didn’t go by unnoticed either.

Once Raihan crossed the threshold, he closed the door behind him, holding out the bag to Leon and giving him a grin. “Brought the goods.”

Leon snorted. “Yeah, for you. I’m perfectly content with my cream vodka, thanks.”

“Yeah, yeah, take that nasty shit and shove it.”

It had been too long that Raihan and Leon hung out like this, just the two of them drinking, laughing and carrying on, staying up all night to laugh at anything and everything. Long before the gym challenge even started, Raihan hadn’t had a chance to kid around with him like this and while he missed it, he also didn’t really want to be here. If only he didn’t have Hop locked up in the castle, he could relax a little more, because the longer he spent away from him, the more paranoid he got that he overlooked something and the kid would be gone once he got home.

No. Raihan shook his head. Even if he somehow managed to get through the door, Goodra and Duraludon would stop him and bring him back. He trusted his partners, as the two of them knew it was their duty to take care of him, and that involved not letting him leave. Raihan should have felt guilty he was making his Pokémon forcibly keep that kid locked up when he wasn’t there to keep an eye on him, but he just couldn’t afford to give a damn right now. Hop was safe, that he was assured of. There was nowhere for the kid to go and if something should happen, he’d left him with two of his most trusted partners to protect him.

Hop was in good hands. Raihan needn’t worry so much.

Now that Raihan was making himself comfortable in the apartment, he couldn’t help but notice something was off. It took him way too long to realize—Leon hadn’t tidied his place up in a while. Anytime he’d come over, the guy was a hardass about keeping things in their proper place. While not a germaphobe by any means, Leon was always fickle about keeping things clean and straight. But—

Raihan glanced around, setting the shopping bag full of booze on the counter.

Looking at his place now, there were clothes on the floor, dishes that hadn’t been washed yet, his television was running in the background on some weird action show that didn’t seem to be something Leon would watch at all, but the most damning thing was the stack of newspapers by the table, along with Leon’s laptop that from where he was standing, Raihan could see about a million tabs opened. If he didn’t know any better, it looked like Leon had been working himself ragged, but on what, he couldn’t see the laptop screen very well unless he flat out pried.

So, he did.

“What’ve you been doing, mate?”

“Work.” Leon’s response was dry, but he let out a huff of air as he collapsed onto the couch and rubbed his face. The moment Leon was settled down, not really paying attention to what Raihan was doing, he quickly crossed by the computer, stealing a glance to see if he could figure out what Leon was doing. A couple of his tabs looked to be business-oriented stuff (also known as boring as fuck), but the page that was front and center made Raihan blink in surprise. It looked like a list of…contacts? People Raihan had never even heard of, but with Leon being the former champion, of course there were going to be people he kept in touch with for business affairs. Just because he’d lost his title didn’t mean Leon didn’t still have a lot riding for him right now.

Huh. Funny—as far as Raihan could see just from glancing over the tabs and gathering what little information he could, it didn’t look like Leon was all that concerned with sending out any messages pertaining to Hop. Shit—he was going to get pissed off at this rate, but before that could happen, Raihan grabbed one of the bottles from his shopping bag, unscrewed the top, and tipped the whole thing back as he took a long swig of it.

It burned on the way down, causing his eyes to water, but Raihan needed something to calm his nerves. This wasn’t about coming here to bitch at Leon for not giving enough of a shit to do anything about Hop—and hell, Raihan knew he was being a hypocrite, because he didn’t _want_ Leon finding him. Obviously, that would spell all kinds of disaster on his end if Leon ever found out what he’d done to him, but despite that, Raihan couldn’t help feeling a little, just a little miffed that the guy he considered his friend and rival couldn’t spare just a little bit, _just the teeniest bit_ of concern?

Raihan took another gulp, draining half the bottle in one go, and almost smashed it against the counter when he set it back down, but caught himself. His Rotom phone vibrated in his pocket, either the Pokémon becoming agitated when it sensed his mood, or his social media blowing up again. It didn’t matter. Raihan didn’t come here to get pissed off.

So, he tried to force small talk, as hard as it was, but he turned back to Leon who was still on the couch, his head now in his hands and looking as though he were about to drift off to sleep. Raihan glanced at the television which was playing adverts now only to give Leon a bit of a half glare from across the room.

“What kind of work? Tell me, champ, what’s life like for you now? Whatcha been up to?”

Leon stretched his legs out on the couch as he slouched back into it. “All kinds of things, Rai. Interviews, conferences, stuff like that.”

Raihan narrowed his eyes. And he couldn’t help himself. It was just his anger surfacing, he knew, and he really didn’t need to be stirring the pot like this, but the alcohol he’d downed was dulling his senses until he’d probably lose his own inhibitions at this point. “Any word on the kid?” As he spoke, Raihan dipped down where he knew Leon kept his booze in one of the cabinets and pulled out a bottle of cream vodka. Leon was into the sweeter stuff like this, so Raihan knew exactly what to make him. He often teased him for his intolerance for the stronger stuff, but right now, Raihan needed to loosen him up, so he poured half a glass of soda, filling the rest up with vodka.

“No. Nothing.” Then Leon shifted in his head, the bags under his eyes strangely prominent to Raihan despite the distance between them. “Rai—have you really not heard anything from him? The last place anyone saw him was in Hammerlocke.”

He couldn’t deny—having Leon ask him point blank like that made a bead of sweat appear at the nape of Raihan’s neck, but he played it cool, avoiding eye contact while he poured Leon his soda before setting everything to the side and shrugging when he approached the couch. “Nothing. You’re the first person I would’ve called had I seen anything. You know that.”

Leon nodded when Raihan handed off the drink to him, recoiling when he took a sip and Raihan almost wanted to laugh at him, but he couldn’t muster any ounce of joy, not even fake joy. “I know. I’m at my wit’s end, Rai.”

 _Sure as fuck didn’t look it_ , is what Raihan wanted to say, but he bit his tongue. Now wasn’t the time to get annoyed. Instead, he pulled his phone from his pocket, seeing a few notifications from a couple of his socials, but nothing important. As casually as he could, he plopped down onto the couch next to Leon, causing him to scoot over to accommodate the lack of space, and Raihan crossed one leg over his knee before browsing his social media, trying to appear nonchalant. He was anything but.

Just sitting next to Leon while the guy sipped his soda was driving Raihan up the wall, and he began to bounce his knee in aggravation and impatience for how slowly Leon was drinking. He didn’t appear up for much small talk, not that Raihan was either, but he didn’t come all the way up here to watch Leon mope around while the two of them sat in silence.

It was so awkward.

Eventually, Raihan slouched in his seat, setting his Rotom phone down on the arm of the couch before glancing over at Leon. “You want me to order pizza or something?”

Leon shook his head before perking up a bit, as though the thought of food itself only just occurred to him. “Oh—I mean, yeah you can eat whatever you want. I haven’t had much of an appetite lately.”

“You okay?”

Leon only gave him a hard stare from the other end of the sofa. “My brother’s missing, Rai.”

 _Then why the fuck wasn’t Leon out there right now tearing the town apart trying to find him?_ Holy _shit_ , Raihan was starting to get heated and he only bounced his leg even harder as he tried to push the urge to throat punch Leon right now into the movement so he wouldn’t snap. This guy made no sense, here he was looking so worn out and haggard like he hadn’t slept in days, making out like he was so worried about Hop, when there were no cries for help on his end. He was the fucking former champion— _why wasn’t he doing anything?_

Raihan couldn’t help it. Not even bouncing his leg was enough to stave off the heat he could feel pouring in his face, and he opened his mouth before he could stop himself. “Why aren’t you out there broadcasting it on every network then? I haven’t even seen any social media posts from you, mate.” He spoke through gritted teeth, watching from the corner of his eye as Leon took another swig of his soda, now halfway done with it, and he tipped his head back, some of the hair in his ponytail coming around to rest across his shoulder.

“I have been.”

 _What._ “What?” Bull _fucking **shit**_. Raihan had been checking his socials and watching the news in his spare time—he had yet to see anything like that. If Leon was simply lying to him, it was a piss poor lie.

Leon took another swig of his drink. It seemed the more Raihan pushed with this, the harder he was going at his vodka. Not that Raihan was complaining. He was due for another shot himself. “I tried to go public with it, I really did, but I was advised not to. I made a big fuss to the chairman and everything, but I was told to keep it under wraps. I’ve been in contact with some of my connections, though, and they’re investigating it privately, though I doubt they’ll be much help.” With a long sigh, Leon leaned back, swallowing the rest of his vodka in one gulp when he tipped the glass. “They all think the same thing—that he got cold feet and ran away like you said. I didn’t really believe it before, but now _I’m really worried, Rai._ ”

Raihan’s Rotom chirped in his hand, as if to ask if Raihan wanted to record right now, and he almost bit the blood from his lip. This…wasn’t what he expected to hear from Leon at all. The plan was to come here, record him saying how he hadn’t done all he should to make sure Hop was being searched for, but while he could still say that didn’t mean jack shit, because Leon could have made announcements of his own accord. It didn’t have to come from the fucking chairman, but Hop would still consider that in Leon’s favor and stand up for him, saying how Raihan had lied and Leon _was_ doing all he could.

Fuck. There went _that_ plan.

Oh well. As annoyed as Raihan was, he simply stood from the couch, popping his spine when he stretched. This wasn’t a sure-fire thing from the start, and he expected there to be hiccups, but he could always continue with the usual, that since there were no announcements or social media posts, that Hop was still an afterthought to them all. Really though—Leon _could_ have done more. But, Raihan couldn’t use this as evidence. Hop would still defend Leon at every turn, and he was getting sick of it.

Without another word to Leon, Raihan made his way back to the kitchen before grabbing his liquor bottle and downing another gulp, mostly to feel the burn. If he experienced pain right now, it would help distract from his annoyances. He didn’t even want to spend the night anymore, but—he sighed, placing the now empty bottle on the counter before fishing out another one. It couldn’t be helped. He’d just have to deal with it. Still though, this was a fucking letdown if anything.

He wasn’t disappointed. Just annoyed.

Now he just wasted an evening he could have been spending at home with Hop, and the longer he stood around, the more agitated he got. Maybe he could think of some excuse to head home early, even though this whole thing had been his idea, but right now, Raihan was itching to get back home and sleep next to Hop. It’d be better than hanging around Leon and pretending he gave a damn.

He might just do that.

Just when he was contemplating thinking of some bullshit excuse about how he got sick and needed to leave, Leon stood from the couch, shuffling his way over to the spot next to Raihan before he poured himself a whole glass of vodka. No soda this time. Damn, that was unusual seeing the guy take it straight. With a tip of his head, Leon downed his whole glass, shivering when he placed his glass back against the counter and gave Raihan a lidded stare.

All Raihan could do was take another shot of his own drink. Maybe tonight wouldn’t be so bad after all if the two of them got hammered. It might even be a little fun, and Raihan could use some loosening up himself.

With a grin tossed Leon’s way, his earlier annoyances temporarily placed on the back burner, Raihan gave him a clap on the back. “Come on, champ, I’ve seen you drink more than that. Take another glass.”

If pumping the both of them with alcohol was what it took for Raihan to get through this evening, then so be it.

After standing in the kitchen and taking several more shots (Raihan having downed a bottle and a half by this point), the pair eventually found themselves back on the sofa, Leon flipping through the channels before landing on some comedy show the two of them weren’t paying the least bit of attention to. By this point, Raihan was no longer sober, but he wasn’t shit faced either. Just drunk enough where the room was spinning, but if he absolutely had to, he could get up and walk.

Leon on the other hand.

The guy was always a lightweight and Raihan could attest to that much, but now he was slumped back on the couch, his hair hanging in a messy pool around his shoulders as he stared up at the ceiling, laughing at absolutely nothing. At least Raihan managed to get him loosened up where he wasn’t moping, and they’d spent the better part of the past couple hours laughing and reminiscing about their childhoods and whatnot. Raihan could have even said it was rather nice hanging out with him like this. He’d gotten so drunk that he even forgot that he was hungry earlier and wanted pizza. Oh well. Wasn’t like it mattered.

“What’s even…” Leon slurred, his posture all the more awful as he slumped so far in his seat he was practically sitting on his spine. “Th-the point of…game showsssss…”

Raihan had to suppress a laugh, but now he was getting more fucked up by the minute and couldn’t help but laugh along with him. “I know, mate. They’re…they’re so dumb.”

“Useless…”

“No brains…”

“If-if I was asked t-to compete on a game show, I’d…I’d…” Leon was cut off when the man on the television attempted to race across an obstacle course, tripping over his own feet and falling flat on his face. Bursting into loud laughter, Leon finally perked up in his seat, no longer slouching, and Raihan was right there with him, laughing his head off. He couldn’t even make out what was being said on the show anymore as Raihan had all but broken down into a fit of laughter, slapping his knee as the man on the screen continued falling over himself.

Raihan wasn’t normally one for slapstick, but when he was _this_ hammered, anything was funny.

“H-Hop used to love w-watching stuff like this wh-when we were kids…”

At the mention of Hop, Raihan perked up a bit, reaching for his phone out of instinct, but his Rotom had hovered away from the couch at some point, probably to avoid being smashed while the two of them laughed and acted like idiots. Eh—it would fly back when it felt safe, so he didn’t worry too much about it.

To respond to Leon’s statement, Raihan only let out a sigh. He was too drunk to really feel any anger toward Leon concerning his brother. “Kid likes game shows?”

Leon nodded. “Loves ‘em. He used to record them on the telly when I was away s-so when I came home, we’d watch together.” His eyes lidded then, as he sank into his spot on the couch, eyes glazed and unfocused on the television, but a soft smile barely turned the corner of his mouth. “Rai…”

“Yeah…?”

“Do y-you really th-think Hop got cold f-feet and ran away?” Slowly, almost eerily so, Leon turned his head to face Raihan, his gaze still unfocused and lidded, though even in his drunken stupor, Raihan could sense the uncertainty he was trying to hide.

He wasn’t lucid enough for shit like this, so he shrugged, leaning back until his head was rested against the edge of the couch. “I don’t know, champ. Did he say anythin’ to give you the impression he was leaving somewhere?”

Leon shook his head, having turned away from Raihan to face the television once more, and took a long swig of his vodka. “Nothing. E-even Mum thinks he’s off doing his own thing and that he’ll be back. I wanna…I wanna…” He swallowed, having to close his eyes before continuing. He was slurring so much, it was difficult for Raihan to understand much of what he was saying. “I wanna look for him, but I dunno where to even start. It’s not—i-it’s not like him to ignore my calls for so long.”

Raihan shrugged, casting his gaze back to the telly once more as his eyes drooped. He was getting sleepier the longer they sat here, and he’d probably nod off before too long and end up crashing on the couch. “He could just be out camping. I wouldn’t worry so much, mate.” Had Raihan been of sound mind, he would have probably bit his head off for that, but he was too hammered to really give a damn at this point, so he’d let Leon’s infuriating statements slide. For now.

Then Leon snorted, shifting in his seat a bit as he leaned over to place his face in his hands. It was quiet, almost so quiet that Raihan didn’t hear him at first, but Leon started laughing, the sound bubbling from the back of his throat in between his teeth, causing Raihan to glance at him out of the corner of his eye. Leon was at that state of drunk where he was simply laughing for the sake of laughing, and he looked to be close to tears, but Raihan wasn’t sure.

“I…” Leon looked over at Raihan again, his eyes lidded once more, a very obvious sheen of red coating his face. “I love him so much, Rai…”

Even in his own stupor, Raihan felt the back of his neck break out in a cold sweat. “I know y—”

“No…no, Rai. I mean…” He swallowed, still laughing through his teeth, eyes unable to focus on Raihan for too long before he had to close them. “I…I _love_ Hop s-so much. Shh…don’t tell anybody, Rai, shh…” He fumbled over his words, still laughing, still smiling, the blush on his cheeks reddening even more. “I…I’ve touched myself to him before.”

Did…

Did Raihan just hear that right? He didn’t just hear that right. Right? He had to blink a few times, just to make sure he was still there, still on Leon’s couch. Yep, he was still there alright. Hammered, dizzy, swaying a bit where he stood, but still here.

The realizations of Leon’s words made him freeze and he couldn’t even force his body to move enough to properly look over at him, because Raihan surely hadn’t heard all that right. He didn’t just hear him say that to him—he couldn’t have.

Leon was still laughing, still slurring and swaying with every movement he made. Maybe he was too drunk to realize what he was even saying, because—

There was no way Raihan just heard him say that. No _fucking_ way. Leon was so hammered he was saying nonsense, that’s all. At least for his sake, he’d better _hope_ it was fucking nonsense.

His friend continued laughing, slurring, swaying until he had to lean back on the couch to support himself. “I…he’s so shy…it’s so cute. I’ve always…thought he was cute, Rai. Wanna—I wanna—I-I’d fuck him if he’d let me. I-if he asked me to, I’d—I’d fuck him.”

Raihan’s heart was pounding, the alcohol making his limbs feel numb, but it wasn’t enough to stop him from lifting himself up off the couch, reaching over toward where Leon was still slumped back, laughing incoherently and mumbling. Before he could stop himself, before he could even think about what he was doing, Raihan was on him, hands reached out until he’d wrapped his fingers around Leon’s throat, and he squeezed.

In a moment way too late, Leon’s eyes fluttered open, dazed and confused when he met Raihan’s own stare, but he just smiled up at him, apparently not realizing Raihan was in the process of choking him. The both of them were too drunk to think clearly, and Raihan was squeezing his throat, purposefully digging his nails into him, the heat gushing out of the pores on his face from the rage that was threatening to boil to the surface at any moment.

He would kill him.

He would _fucking kill him. He was going to crush his windpipe right here._

How dare he—how **_dare_** _he_ sit there and say things like that to him when he never gave a single fuck about Hop to begin with? Whether he was spewing nonsense or not, Raihan didn’t care. With both hands wrapped around his throat, he squeezed, his intent being to strangle the fucking bastard until he was blue in the face, until he’d wiped him from existence— _until he wiped that stupid fucking shit eating grin off his face when he spoke about Hop like that_ —because how dare he say things like that when Raihan knew from the very beginning he didn’t give a single fucking shit about his brother—this fucker _, this fucking **fucker**_ , this _pervert_ , fucking—

“…R-Rai…?” Leon struggled out his name as Raihan choked him, his throat feeling so small and fragile beneath his hands, like he could break him in half if he really wanted, and Raihan was so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn’t even realized what he was doing—but the moment Leon spoke, his voice choked and garbled, it hit him then just what he was doing and Raihan quickly let go of him, his hands shaking, the snap back to reality so forceful that it felt as though he’d been running a marathon just now. His heart was pounding, the cold beads of sweat prickling his back and limbs, and Raihan was overcome with the urge to vomit right there. Holy shit—he almost choked Leon. He almost fucking _killed_ Leon.

His friend only sat there, still slumped in his seat, merely looking confused and not terrified that Raihan had almost lost himself and strangled him, but he was probably too drunk to realize what was happening. Thank whoever liked him enough for that one, because there was no way Raihan would be able to explain that should Leon question him. If push came to shove, he could always try to convince him it was something horny, but Raihan was too tipsy to try and rationalize any kind of excuse for that.

How _dare_ he say things like that? How fucking dare Leon sit there laughing and blushing and flat out admitting that he had feelings for Hop? That he wanted to sleep with him? What the fuck was wrong with him—Raihan had never heard Leon admit anything like this to him before, so why now? Why was it when Hop went missing, Leon only realizing how he probably should have been treating his brother this time, why was it he had these feelings all of a sudden? Had he always felt this way? Had Leon always had a thing for Hop?

Raihan’s throat tightened, until he couldn’t swallow without the sound of it audible, and he had to lean off the couch, swaying when he stood to his feet. His chest was so tight, his heart pounding so hard that it was almost painful, and he didn’t know whether to be mad at Leon or Hop right now. Here Leon was, spewing all these confessions about being attracted to Hop, meanwhile Hop adamantly _denied_ having any feelings for Leon—so why was it when Raihan made him touch himself while saying Leon’s name, why was it that he got hard for him _so easily?_

Did Hop lie to him? Did all those times he’d follow him around day in and day out, just so he could be close with him, just so Raihan could make sure he was safe—was Hop secretly in a relationship with Leon that whole time that he even managed to slip under Raihan’s radar? He was so sure the kid had feelings for Gloria, because not once, never _once_ did he see any evidence that the brothers were into one another.

Well, he just got his fucking evidence.

“Rai? Are you okay?” When Leon reached out to him, touching his arm, Raihan was roused from his thoughts all too quickly and he jolted back like Leon had just burned him with fire.

Staring over at his friend only intensified his rage. If Raihan stuck around here for much longer, he knew he would do way worse than choke him. He might follow through and wind up killing him—he had to get out of here. Raihan was about to lose his mind and he needed to get out of here fast, get back to Hop, see for himself if this was true or not. He didn’t know what the fuck he would do if he found out Hop had been into Leon this whole time—he just fucking didn’t know what to do.

Raihan fumbled his words. “F-fine. I’m actually going to go home. I don’t feel well.” It was an abysmal excuse if anything, but before Leon could protest, he had reached over to the edge of the couch, grabbing hold of the arm for support before he nabbed his knapsack, and his Rotom phone chirped when it floated over to him from wherever the hell it had wandered off to before. Grabbing it out of the air, Raihan pocketed it before heading to the front door.

“Wait—Rai, are you sure? You c-can stay here.” Leon was still slurring, but couldn’t even stand off the couch, he was so hammered, so he couldn’t even stop him when Raihan reached the front door, hand on the doorknob.

“No, I’ll be fine. Just gotta get home.”

“Okay…” He didn’t sound convinced at all, but Raihan didn’t give a shit. He’d worry about smoothing things over later with him, so without waiting for another response, he opened the front door, slamming it shut behind him before stumbling his way out into the hallway. Oh fuck—he was still seeing double, barely able to walk two steps without tripping over his own feet, and it was an arduous trek down the apartment complex as he gripped hold of everything and anything he could possibly afford to grab in order to avoid falling on his face.

The train would take too long. Raihan needed to find a Corviknight cab as soon as possible, and it felt like ages he stumbled his way around before finally being met with the almost midnight sky in Wyndon. Not many people were out and about at this hour, but he spotted the Corviknight cab just down the sidewalk and Raihan tried his hardest to keep his footing steady as he made his way over to the portly man manning the cab.

Recognizing him, the man gave him a wave, but Raihan didn’t return the pleasantries, though he could tell the man noticed he was drunk and gave a rather stilted smile. He was still running high on his anger, and if he didn’t get to Hop _right this second_ , he was going to lose his mind. Had he been more sober, he would have probably punched Leon’s mouth in, but he couldn’t worry about that now. The only thing running through his mind on repeat was— _did Hop lie to him?_ Was it _all_ a lie? Was Hop really in a relationship with Leon this whole time and simply lied to him? Had Leon harbored these feelings for Hop this entire time without Raihan ever realizing it?

And worst of all—

Had _Leon touched him?_

Raihan would go fucking insane if he found out that Leon had been intimate with Hop—and he knew he really wouldn’t hesitate to fucking kill the guy if he found out he’d touched Hop in any way. There were too many thoughts buzzing in his head, making him feel sick all over again, thoughts that Hop had lied, but if he hadn’t lied, then had Leon ever touched him, maybe against Hop’s will? Raihan really would fucking slit that guy’s throat if he found out he’d done something awful to Hop like that without him wanting it. Even if he did want it, he’d still kill Leon. He’d fucking kill him— _Hop was **Raihan’s**._

Handing off a wad of money to the cab driver, Raihan stowed himself up in the cab, clutching his head as he was lifted off into the sky. The lights below Wyndon made his head spin and he had to force his head down to keep from vomiting all in his lap. He really should have stayed at Leon’s place, but he couldn’t now—not when he was so fucking pissed, he wanted to throttle Leon for having the fucking _gall_ to say all that shit to him.

Raihan tried to keep his eyes closed so the sight of the spinning lights outside his window didn’t make him hurl as they flew through the air. The moment he could see Hammerlocke not far ahead, his Rotom phone vibrated in his pocket and Raihan jerked it from his pocket, squinting his eyes at the screen to try and focus his vision. If Leon was trying to text him and ask him what was up, he would—

The sight of the video in front of him only made his blood boil ever so slowly when he realized what he was watching, and it took way too long for Raihan to realize—there was Leon, slumped up against the couch, the camera having caught him from an angle in the air so that only his profile was visible, but there was no denying the blush on his cheeks, the softness in his eyes, and the way he slurred out those fucking words.

“ _I’ve always…thought he was cute, Rai._ ”

Even viewing this in video form was enough to cause Raihan to clutch his phone so tight that his Rotom made a whirring sound out of fear he would crush it in his palm. His Rotom had recorded that entire spill at some point—it was plain as day right there. Raihan could even see parts of his own arm and leg off to the side where the camera hadn’t quite caught him, but Leon was front and center. Hearing those words again only caused his anger to skyrocket and Raihan had to turn the phone off and shove it in his pocket to avoid throwing the damn thing out the window altogether.

Fuck this. Fuck this whole thing. And _fuck Leon_ —who did that guy think he was? If Raihan knew he could get away with it, he would fucking kill him for daring to say something like that. Leon didn’t give two shits about Hop _and he knew it._ And fuck that whole working undercover thing trying to find his brother—that didn’t mean a damn thing. Leon was such a piece of shit— _fuck_ , Raihan was fuming, he couldn’t fucking deal with this right now. He just wanted to get back to Hop already.

The cab dropped him down not a moment too soon right in front of the castle. The driver waved to him once he let himself out, almost tripping in the process, but Raihan couldn’t be bothered being polite to the man now. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered other than getting to Hop right this second. The minute he found himself in the castle, Raihan rode the elevator up as far as it would go, the climb up the staircases being much more difficult than he ever remembered it being. He had to keep pausing in between his ascent to grip hold of the railing and catch his breath, his limbs still feeling oddly detached from his own body and the alcohol coursing through his system making him want to purge it out all at once so that he could have his wits about him.

He knew it was a bad idea to come back like this, still tipsy, dizzy from drinking, and pissed as fucking shit about what Leon had told him—he knew he shouldn’t be coming after Hop like this, but dammit, he had to know. He would lose his ever-loving mind if he found out Hop had lied to him. 

But when he finally reached his apartment, fumbling with his keycard to unlock the door, the silence that met him on the other end seemed so eerily out of place that it gave him goosebumps. Not bothering trying to be quiet as late as it was, Raihan slammed the door behind him as hard as he could, hoping if Hop had been asleep somewhere up there, he would hear it and wake up. There was no point in treating this with kid gloves, because Raihan’s heart was pounding so hard, it was painful in his chest. Hop was going to tell him the truth _right now_ if it killed him.

It was dark when he finally climbed from the entryway into the apartment itself, and Raihan had to take a moment to lean against the nearby wall as he clutched onto his head, dropping his knapsack in the process. He was so dizzy from overexerting himself with that climb, his body was begging him to take a moment and rest, but he didn’t dare do that.

The light from the television flickered from down the hall, Raihan pushing himself from the wall the moment he caught sight of it. Duraludon poked his head out from the kitchen, but Raihan ignored him as he passed, finally stumbling his way into the living room. Goodra was stretched out right by the couch, her long neck perched up to rest on Hop’s side who was curled into a small ball at the foot of the sofa, apparently having fallen asleep watching the telly. It flickered as some late-night action anime played, the volume having been lowered until it was almost muted, but Raihan turned the nearby light switch on, casting the whole room in a warm glow when he entered. His Goodra lifted her head away from Hop, giving him a curious stare when he made his way over.

He didn’t waste a single second more. “ _Move._ ” His voice was low and slightly slurred and all it took was one glare at his Goodra before she stood from the floor and scampered out the room.

The second she was out of the room, Raihan let out a huff of air before reaching down to grab Hop by the arm, shoving him probably way too hard in his drunken state to rouse him from sleep. He hadn’t meant to be so rough with him, but Raihan was about to go fucking insane and couldn’t be bothered to control himself. He was going to get the truth out of Hop one way or another—he wouldn’t rest until he got this kid to tell him what exactly his older brother meant to him, if he’d lied to him or not.

“Get up.” He said it way too loud, no longer concerned with being gentle or not.

“Mmm?” Hop’s sleepy voice mumbled as he came to, eyes half-lidded when he blinked in confusion before they finally landed on Raihan. With his eyes glazed over, he looked as though he could drift right back off to sleep, seeming so unconcerned that Raihan was even there.

Seeing him like this only caused Raihan’s heart to pound even harder and he repeated himself, his voice low and trying his hardest not to let his anger seep through, but it was impossible. If he didn’t calm down, he might get rough, and he didn’t want to hurt the kid, but holy fuck, he was losing it. “ _Get. Up._ ”

All at once, Hop’s eyes snapped open as he lifted himself, supporting himself on his elbows as he rose in a half sitting position. The sleep was still prevalent in his eyes, but the more he came to, the more terrified he looked, and Raihan didn’t care one bit. Let him be terrified—it felt good to see him so scared, especially if he’d been lying the whole time. Hop deserved to be scared of him right now. “R-Raihan? What are you—”

But he didn’t even give him a chance to finish. With one quick motion, Raihan swooped down, grabbing Hop by both arms, wrapping his entire hands around him as he pulled him up all the way until he was seated on his bottom. Hop didn’t have a chance to react before Raihan asked through gritted teeth, “Did you fucking lie to me, kid?”

The color drained of his face, but Hop seized up the moment Raihan grabbed him, and he could feel him begin to shiver in his arms ever so slightly while he remained frozen. His lower lip quivered when he opened his mouth. “Wh-what the hell are you t-talking about?” This would normally be the part when Hop started getting smart with him, mouthing off about something or other, but the way Raihan was holding him, keeping him in place, he knew the kid sensed the danger and was trying his hardest to play it cool. He was failing. Raihan could see it in his eyes—he was scared to death.

Shoving his face into his, not caring he was invading his personal space, Raihan glared at him, and so close that their noses almost touched. Hop recoiled away out of instinct, Raihan able to feel the resistance when he tried to pull his arms out of his hold, but Raihan didn’t move a muscle. This kid was _not_ about to run off on him right now. “About Leon. You better not have fucking lied to me, kid. I was wonderin’ why the fuck you got off so easily when I made you touch yourself while sayin’ his name.”

Hop’s eyes flashed open, and he tried to shove at him, but Raihan had a death grip on his arms, knowing he was squeezing him way too hard and probably hurting him, but he just didn’t give a fuck right now. It was taking every ounce of his willpower not to let loose and do something he regretted. “Let go of me!”

“Answer my fucking question.” If Hop wanted to keep pussyfooting around, then Raihan would just force him to tell the truth. He was done playing around, he was sick of letting Hop get away with avoiding questions like these, and he was _fucking tired_ of the kid ignoring him and still thinking there was any other place for him other than right here with Raihan.

He _belonged_ to him.

He was fucking _Raihan’s._ And nobody, especially that stupid fucking older brother of his, was ever going to see him again. Raihan would make sure of it. He would keep Hop locked up here forever until the day he died—he would keep hold of him and never let him go.

He moved into his face even further then, his eyes staring straight into Hop’s own and the kid gasped at the close proximity, still uncomfortable whenever Raihan got close to him like this. There was nowhere for him to go, nothing he could do now that Raihan had ahold of him. All Hop could do was sit there frozen in fear when he stared back at Raihan with horror in his eyes.

He was going to tell him the truth whether Raihan had to force it out of him or not, but he was getting the fucking truth from him right now if it killed him.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“Bull _fucking shit_ , Hop. You wanna bitch and moan every time I badmouth Leon like—you get _so_ defensive of him whenever someone dares say anything bad about him. Admit it. You’re fucking him.” Raihan’s lids lowered, his heart pounding so hard in his chest it was reaching his ears to a deafening level, causing his dizziness to worsen. Now _he_ was shaking as he gripped hold of Hop, as he fought so hard not to lose his composure, but he had burned that bridge a long time ago.

Hop only attempted to pull back to no avail. Raihan wasn’t letting him go anytime soon, and he had to know that. Raihan knew Hop knew this was hopeless for him and there was no getting away from him. “Raihan—for the last time, _I don’t like Lee like that!_ You’re fucking _crazy!_ ” He reached up with his legs this time, attempting to kick Raihan off him, but all he did was lean into his body even more, until Hop was all but pressed against him where he couldn’t draw his knees up. Hop glared up at him, not seeming perturbed that Raihan had trapped him like this, but he could still see the terror in his eyes that Hop was trying so desperately to hide. Try as he might to appear tough, Raihan knew the truth. And the truth was, he was just a scared little boy.

Let him be scared. He didn’t _fucking care._

“Why do you keep insisting I have a thing for Lee when _I don’t?!_ I have _never_ liked him like that, and I never will! He’s my brother and it’s _fucking **sick** _that you keep thinking there’s something going on between us when there’s not!”

The heat in Raihan’s face only intensified, until he could practically feel it seeping from his pores. He leaned off Hop, letting go of his arms where the kid floundered back against the couch in an attempt to put distance between them, breathing heavy and glaring up at him when Raihan straightened to his full height. He only glared back down, clenching his hands into fists as he fought with every fiber of his being to control his anger right now, but he was gone. Raihan knew he was gone and there was no coming back from what he’d had to listen to Leon say earlier.

The kid may have been lying, but Raihan had proof. He had fucking proof there was something going on—maybe to Hop’s knowledge, or maybe not, but he had the proof right there on his phone.

Raihan fished his phone from his pocket, swiping past his lock screen. “Nothing going on between you two, huh?” The video was still there, and Raihan’s hands were shaking when he turned the volume all the way up, shoving his phone into Hop’s direction when he did so. “Explain this to me, then.”

Hop stared at his phone like it would bite him, squinting in confusion for a moment as he tried to figure out exactly what he was watching, but when the video of Leon played, Raihan’s palms began to sweat and tremble when he had to listen to that audio once more. His anger peaked, and he needed to calm down soon before he did something he regretted, but the look on Hop’s face as the video played out in front of him quelled that somewhat.

Only a little.

Hop paled, he went completely rigid at the sight of Leon when those words started slurring out, and Hop’s entire face fell, looking like he might vomit. Shakily, he opened his mouth, his lip quivering as he stuttered. “Wh-wh-where did y-you get this…?” His voice was so small then, all of his defenses crumbling right there in front of Raihan when he watched his eyes widen in absolute horror.

“Not even an hour ago.”

Hop shook his head from side to side, his eyes glued to the phone screen. “I-it’s fake. This is fake. I’m not watching this. You staged this—it’s bullshit!” The moment he made to stand up from the couch, placing both palms on the cushion to push himself up, Raihan moved. No—this kid was going to sit there and fucking watch this.

He swooped down next to him, placing himself on the seat right next to him before he wrapped his arm around Hop’s waist, pulling him almost into his lap, and he shoved the phone up to his face once more, not giving him a choice in the matter. “The fuck you are—you’re going to sit here and watch the whole thing whether you want to or not. It’s real, Hop. This is your fucking brother saying this shit.”

“Stop!” Hop attempted to shove him, but Raihan only pulled him closer, until he was squished against his body. There was absolutely nowhere for him to go, nowhere for him to hide, and Raihan wasn’t going to let him go until he’d seen with his own eyes just what a fucking creep his own brother was.

And the sound of Leon’s words filled the room then, Raihan’s stomach churning with every syllable he slurred out. How he would _fucking love_ to kill this bastard right now.

“ _I…I **love** Hop s-so much. Shh…don’t tell anybody, Rai, shh…_” Just hearing those disgusting words again was enough to make Raihan sick, but he didn’t dare let up on his grip around Hop, determined to make the kid sit and watch this with him.

When pushing against Raihan didn’t work, Hop slammed his eyes shut, turning his face away from the phone, but Raihan reached up with the arm he had looped around him, nabbed his chin, and forced him back to face the screen. “Open your eyes, Hop—you’re _going_ to watch this. You’re going to see what a fucking perverted creep your brother is.”

“ _I…I’ve touched myself to him before._ ”

Hop’s eyes snapped open, and a sob bubbled from the back of his throat as Raihan continued holding his chin in place. He pulled against him, Raihan not letting up in the slightest, but despite it all, Hop continued resisting even when he knew he couldn’t get away. Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes, but he blinked them away while the video continued on in front of him, Leon’s voice the only sound in the room then.

“ _I…he’s so shy…it’s so cute. I’ve always…thought he was cute, Rai. Wanna—I wanna—I-I’d fuck him if he’d let me. I-if he asked me to, I’d—I’d fuck him._ ”

Hop choked out a sob, the tears finally falling down his cheeks and even while holding him in place like this, forcing him to watch the video, Raihan could feel the constant resistance of him trying to pull away, but he didn’t dare let that happen. Keeping a firm grip on his chin, Raihan tried not to dig his fingers too hard into him, but it was difficult with the way Hop was fighting against him.

The video ended there, thankfully. Rotom had enough sense to turn it off before Raihan strangled him, and he let the phone fall from his hands, Rotom flying off in the air to some random part of the room, and Hop finally, _finally_ quieted in Raihan’s arm as he released his chin. His tears fell, but he stopped moving, eyes glazed and focused straight ahead.

The room was eerily silent then, save for Hop’s sniffles.

Raihan studied him carefully, judging by the way he was reacting, and it was apparent that Hop had no idea of his brother’s perverse thoughts, and it only made Raihan’s anger boil all the more. If Hop didn’t realize how Leon felt about him, then surely that couldn’t mean—

Raihan opened his mouth before he could stop himself, using every ounce of his wits he still had to control his anger. “Did that bastard ever touch you?”

Hop didn’t reply, his jaw hung open like he was on the verge of speaking, but he never did. He only stared straight ahead, the tears falling every once in a while.

Pulling him in closer until Hop was almost in his lap, Raihan leaned down toward his face, trying to engage eye contact, but Hop was just not looking at him. “Answer me, Hop. Did Leon ever put his hands on you? Tell me the truth.” Leon would be a dead man if Raihan found out he’d done something to Hop against his will. He would take his Pokémon, fly back to Wyndon right this second, and beat his brains in if Hop admitted to him that Leon was molesting him all these years.

For a split moment, Raihan thought Hop wouldn’t answer him, and he was about to grab his shit and storm back to Wyndon to off that bastard right here and now, as the silence could only mean Hop was too embarrassed to say yes, right? He was just too ashamed to admit something like that had been going on, but slowly, way too slowly, Raihan felt his anger subside a bit when Hop finally shook his head no.

Leaning off him a bit, Raihan let out a sigh, though it did nothing to quell his deep-rooted anger that was causing him to shake. At least this meant Hop hadn’t lied to him, just based on his reaction to that alone—the kid looked scared to death by that video, and Raihan could feel him trembling as he sat there, like it was taking way too long to process what he’d just seen. Like Hop couldn’t believe his brother would say things like that. “Good. I’d fucking kill him if he did.”

Hop only quaked all the more when Raihan leaned back over until he was more level with him, burying his face into the crook of his neck where he applied several kisses to Hop’s just now fading hickies. Hop didn’t move a muscle beneath him while he was kissed. With his anger tapering off, Raihan just wanted to feel him, taste him, indulge in his presence right now. 

“You know, normally this would be hot, but when it comes to you, it just fucking pisses me off.”

Again, Raihan kissed his throat, allowing his tongue to slide across the bruises on Hop’s shoulder and neck and still, the kid barely moved underneath him. The only sound that came from him was a fast intake of breath as Raihan kissed and licked his hickies. When he leaned off him for a moment to kiss his face, Raihan paused at the sight of Hop still crying, the tears falling down his face and plopping from his chin, but his eyes were locked straight ahead where he only breathed in steadily, the sound rattling with every other inhale he took. The look on his face was nothing short of disbelief, and Raihan knew he was in shock over the fact his own brother had sexual fantasies about him. It was as though Hop had never even considered that possibility, but then, neither did Raihan before all this happened.

He thought it was just his jealousy, but it turned out to be true, and nothing made him angrier than the idea of Leon making moves on Hop to try and steal him away from him. He belonged to _Raihan_ —nobody else.

Raihan sighed when he pulled back to give the kid a little breather from his onslaught of kisses. “Look, kid, I hate that you had to find out this way, I really do, but do you believe me now when I tell you that stupid brother of yours is no good? Not only has he _not_ put any effort whatsoever into looking for you, but he’s a fucking pervert as well.”

It was almost so subtle Raihan didn’t notice, but there was a twitch in Hop’s mouth before he swallowed, as though he were on the verge of retorting, but he remained silent, only breathing and crying quietly in Raihan’s arms. He didn’t respond.

Raihan dipped in to kiss his cheek, tasting the salt when he did so. “You’re better off without him, anyway. It was only a matter of time before he’d probably stoop to something low and start fondling you in your sleep or something. And he can get away with stuff like that. You think if the former champion wanted to, he couldn’t do something awful to you and get away with it? Nobody would’ve believed you either if you tried to rat him out. That’s how dangerous he is.”

Hop made a small gasp when Raihan said that, but he didn’t move, not even when Raihan continued peppering his cheeks with small kisses. Each time he pressed his mouth against him, he could taste the salt, and he didn’t shy away from licking up the side of his face, cleaning away any line of tears that fell. Hop’s only response to his ministrations was a small, occasional shiver.

“You’re much better off with me, don’t you think?” Raihan laughed through his nose before kissing the lower lining of Hop’s jaw, and the kid shivered under him again. “You can just stay with me, Hop. I love you a million times more than any of those people ever did. I’ll buy you anything you want, I’ll let you eat junk food all day—hell, we can do whatever you want, baby. I don’t mind if it makes you happy. We could be _so happy_ here, babe. I’m already happy just having you here with me.” He was rambling he knew, but Raihan had only started sobering up not long ago, and he was still a bit tipsy, his inhibitions mostly gone, but his anger had finally dialed back in favor of indulging in his lust for Hop. He just wanted to be with him right now, kissing him, holding onto him, keeping him safe.

Hop trembled when Raihan’s kisses lowered from his jaw to his neck, to his collarbone. Pulling back the collar of his t-shirt, he licked the top of Hop’s chest, and he was so warm underneath him, if Raihan wasn’t drunk before, he most certainly was now. He was losing himself in the scent of Hop, the warmth of Hop—and all his prior annoyances were washed away.

All that mattered was being here with Hop. Raihan was happiest when he was with him after all, and he knew for a fact it was because he loved him so much. Never had he ever felt this way about someone, and Raihan knew deep down it was because they were meant for one another. Hop was meant to be with him, whether he realized it or not, it would come to him in time, and he would learn to accept it.

“We could be a couple.” Still, Raihan continued kissing his chest, reaching up with a free hand to nab the hem of Hop’s shirt where he lifted it to expose his stomach. “You wanna be a couple, Hop? We’ve pretty much crossed to the lover’s territory now, but I don’t mind if you wanna call me your boyfriend.” A small laugh through his nose as he kissed the top of his chest again, going as low as he could before licking his tongue up Hop’s nipple, gaining a violent shiver from him. “I already think of you as my boyfriend and lover already.”

Raihan leaned off him enough to give him a soft smile, his eyes lidded and clouded with his own pleasure. Being with Hop was a pleasure in itself, but when he was indulging like this, kissing him, touching him, tasting him, Raihan couldn’t help but get off. His cock twitched in anticipation when Raihan made up his mind right then and there to get the both of them off.

Hop said nothing, but his tears had finally dried up, and despite his shivering as Raihan dragged his hands up his exposed stomach, tickling the sides of his hips and drawing circles around his navel, Hop stared straight ahead without a word. Raihan couldn’t help it—he dipped down to plant a kiss against his mouth and Hop finally made a small movement then. He reached out to push at his chest, but it was so weak, Raihan wondered what the point in the movement even was, but if anything, it caused him to pause.

When he pulled away from him, Raihan’s cheeks gushing with heat that wasn’t from anger for once tonight, he gave Hop a soft smile. “I love you, baby. I love you so much. You don’t have to cry about this—you don’t have to waste a single thought on that bastard Leon anymore. He’s not worth the trouble.” Raihan took both arms, wrapping them around Hop and pulled him against his chest, until Hop’s face was in the crook of his neck, Raihan able to feel his rapid breathing against his skin. He rubbed circles on his back, hoping to soothe him. It couldn’t have been easy finding out that his brother was a fucking creep, but Raihan tried to warn him before. He tried to talk sense into him, but to have the truth dumped on him like this, he knew Hop was taking it hard, and he was going to be here with him to help him get through it. “I’m going to take care of you, I promise. Life ain’t gotta be bad here, kid. I’ll make sure you’re comfortable.” He pulled back slightly so he could nuzzle his face into Hop’s hair, the kid shivering something fierce below him now and even those little movements like that drove Raihan fucking _wild_. Hop really did drive him crazy and he didn’t even have to do anything. Just being with him was amazing, and Raihan was high off it. “I love you, Hop.”

With that said, Raihan lifted away from Hop, his dizziness finally leaving him somewhat as during this entire conversation, he had slowly sobered to the point he didn’t feel like being sick everywhere, his anger long gone, and he gave Hop a smile. Dipping into his face again, he made to kiss him one more time, but when Hop brought his hands up, cupping them over his mouth to push him away, Raihan froze, not expecting it.

Hop’s gaze finally met his own and he shivered when he held Raihan back, his eyes widening as though only now realizing that Raihan had wanted to get more intimate with him than simply making out with him all night. “R-Raihan…” Even his voice was shaking, his throat closing around it to the point it sounded like he was choking just simply trying to speak. “I-I-I c-can’t do this…”

Reaching up, Raihan gently gripped his wrists to pry them away from his face, and he held his hands in his own, trying to offer Hop comfort with the gesture, but he shivered even more until Raihan was surprised he hadn’t vibrated off the damn couch at this point. It killed him to see him this way, but he was determined to make it up to him. Raihan had left him alone the past couple days so he could recuperate from what happened in his bedroom when he thought Raihan was going to fuck him dry, but now with the excitement past them, he just wanted to have Hop feel good for a while. He deserved it after finding out that his brother was a bastard.

“Don’t be scared, baby. Everything’s going to be okay, I promise you.” He smiled. “I love you. I’m going to take care of you.”

“I don’t…” Hop swallowed, tears beginning to line his eyes once more, but they stagnated when he looked Raihan in the eye again, his brows pinched as though forcing himself to make eye contact was one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do. “I-I d-don’t love you, Raihan.” He clenched his teeth, shivering all the more, and Raihan could see when his cheeks grew red, as if merely saying those words was shameful. “Y-you’re wasting y-y-your time doing this…”

“I’m not wasting anything by doing this, Hop.” He frowned, though not out of annoyance, but slight frustration that Hop just wasn’t getting it. Even showing him that video of his stupid gross brother spewing his lust for him wasn’t enough to convince Hop he was much, much better off staying with Raihan. At least Raihan _gave_ a shit about him. He didn’t care if Hop didn’t love him right now, because he would eventually, he knew. It would just take time, and Raihan had all the time in the world to wait for him. “I’ve told you time and time again that you’re stuck with me, so you better get used to it.” His frown then curled into a half smirk when he backed off a bit, releasing Hop’s wrists when he let out a sigh. “You’re not a prisoner in a dungeon or anything. I’ve got everything to accommodate you, don’t I? Come on, kid, being with me won’t be so bad. I’m not _that awful_ of a guy once you get to know me.” Hop’s face fell once more until he looked ready to throw up when Raihan winked at him. “Give it time and I promise you you’ll see how much better off you are with me. You might even come to realize you love staying here and hell—” His smirk turned into a wide grin. “You’ll learn to love me eventually.”

It was then that Hop’s expression hardened, and he grit his teeth, but not before glaring up at Raihan as he spoke. “No, I won’t. You’re a psycho—you’re always going to _be_ a psycho—and you may as well just off me right now, _because I’m **never** going to love someone like you._”

The way Hop said that, with every spiteful bone in his body in an attempt to hurt him, it wiped the grin off Raihan’s face _like that_ , and he gripped hold of his arms again, pulling Hop in close, trying not to let his emotions get the better of him when he squeezed his arms. His heart was pounding again, and he found it difficult to keep himself under control, but Hop was making this so hard when it didn’t _have_ to be. It meant nothing for him to say things like that to Raihan, and while it didn’t necessarily bother him when he knew Hop had no idea what he was talking about, it still fucking rubbed him the wrong way the way this kid refused to listen to him. He’d already proven what a closet pervert his brother was, but Hop was still in denial about everything else. “You wanna…” Raihan bit his lip, forcing a smile to Hop that held absolutely no amount of merit in it. “You wanna play hard to get, babe? Fine, we can go rough if you want. I’ll have you screaming for me.” Without waiting for Hop to reply, Raihan leaned in, crushing his mouth against Hop’s and shoving his tongue between his teeth.

In an instant, Hop recoiled back, trying to separate them, but Raihan kept him glued in place by pulling on his arms, until he was practically climbing over him. Hop’s protests were muffled as he was kissed, when he finally managed to fling his head to the side and Raihan caught the side of his face instead, kissing his jaw and licking up the edge.

Hop attempted to push at him. “Stop!” But he needn’t have bothered at all. It was pointless from the beginning and he knew that.

“Be quiet.” The more he kissed him, the more Raihan could feel his excitement growing, and he had half a mind to fuck him, but wasn’t sure if Hop had had enough time to recover yet. That didn’t mean he couldn’t still rub one out with him, and he’d fully planned to suck his cock anyway, so he may as well keep going. Ignoring Hop’s protests and feeble attempts to get away from him, Raihan moved down to his neck, sucking against the fading hickies and licking the spots again. “Tell me what I do to you doesn’t feel good—just try it. You love this and you know it. You love it and you’re going to love me one day too.” Raihan kissed right on his throat, mouthing over his small Adam’s apple when he did so. “Stop lying to me and just admit that you love it when I fuck you.”

Hop gasped when Raihan sucked against his throat, accidentally scraping his fang against him, but he didn’t dare go hard and draw blood.

With his wrists still in Raihan’s grip, Hop could do little but flail backward, attempting to throw him off, but it was almost hilarious how weak his attempts were. Was Hop even trying? Maybe he really was just playing hard to get. Maybe the kid was into shit like this—hell, Raihan didn’t mind if he was. “Fuck you! You’re a fucking psycho, Raihan!”

Raihan laughed through his nose, peppering kisses down Hop’s shoulder. “Keep saying my name, baby, it only turns me on.” When he released one of his wrists, Raihan instead reached down toward Hop’s pajama bottoms and pulled back the elastic.

Hop took his free arm Raihan had released and gripped him by the wrist where he attempted to pull him away. His voice was shaking so bad, he could barely get the words out. “W-wait—wait— _wait_ , Raihan, _don’t_ —I-I have to go…” Whatever Hop was trying to say only devolved into a harsh gasp once Raihan’s fingers brushed against his dick.

Raihan couldn’t help to smile at his red face when he leaned back into the crook of his neck to kiss him. “Don’t worry, baby, you just be good for me and I’ll take care of the rest. I just want you to feel good.” Again, his fingers brushed against Hop’s length when he fitted his whole hand into his underwear, trying to get a grip around his dick so he could pump.

It was then that Hop used his free hand to shove Raihan against the chest, actually managing to knock the air out of him somewhat which was surprising as hell, but it didn’t stop Raihan from gripping hold of his cock even as Hop glared at him in exasperation. “ _Raihan_ —I’m serious! Stop! I have to go!”

“Go where?” As he spoke, Raihan only pumped his length a couple of times, gaining a harsh gasp from Hop when he did so, when he looked close to tears then.

Hop’s mouth quivered. “I-I have to use the bathroom. _Please_.”

“Sure you do.” That was a weak lie if he’d ever heard one, and Raihan rolled his eyes when he propped himself up enough where he could start fumbling with his own shorts to pull his cock out. He didn’t plan to go inside of him, but he couldn’t deny having Hop rub up against him the way he did a couple days ago was _fucking euphoric_ , as badly as Hop had panicked during that time, Raihan was eager to try that again. If he could just entice Hop into touching him, or even letting him rub against him, he’d— “Move up, will you?”

Not waiting for Hop to reply, Raihan reached around to cup his ass, trying to hoist him in his lap, and Hop pushed back against him again when he was lifted into his lap so easily, now sitting on Raihan’s dick that was steadily growing hard when he forced the kid to straddle him. 

“Raihan, _I have to go_ —please _. I can’t hold it anymore._ ” The look on Hop’s face was growing more and more mortified by the moment, but Raihan shrugged.

“If you have to go that bad, then just go.” He had to laugh at Hop’s meager attempts to talk his way out of this. He knew brute forcing his way was out of the question, so now he was trying to play Raihan’s sympathy and talk his way out. Poor kid didn’t stand a chance—Raihan could see right through him that this was just a way to go lock himself up in the bathroom where he wouldn’t have to be intimate with him and there was no way Raihan was about to let that happen. They were both going to get something out of this whether Hop wanted to or not, but Raihan was sucking his dick one way or another no matter how much the kid protested and pushed him away. He was going to do it.

With him now propped up in his lap, Hop’s ass pressing down on his cock, Raihan thrust up against him through his shorts, moaning a bit at the sensation. It had only been a few days, but holy shit, he felt as though he had gone _years_ without getting to touch Hop like this. Raihan really couldn’t hold off on him for too long and after the night he’d had, he was starving for more of him.

“ _Raihan._ ” Hop’s voice hitched in the back of his throat as Raihan continued stroking him, hoping to get him hard. He’d be over the moon if the kid came in his lap just from being jerked off, where he’d have nothing to grab onto except Raihan himself. He wanted to see his face of pleasure, kiss him while he moaned against him, brush his dick against his ass while Hop rode out his orgasm, while Raihan kissed him and dry humped him. _Fuck_ —he wanted him so bad right now.

And it really would only hammer in the fact that Hop would learn to love him one day. It hurt a little to hear him say things like that to him, that he would never love him, but Raihan could forgive it. It wasn’t like the kid had all that many opportunities to get to know him over the years, since Raihan more or less avoided him like the plague when Leon was around, so it wasn’t fair to expect Hop to offer those types of feelings when Raihan had been on the opposite end.

When Raihan had followed him around for years. When Raihan could remember the first time he ever touched himself to Hop. When Raihan realized how in love with Leon’s little brother he was and fantasized about being with him like this.

Having Hop in his lap like this while Raihan thrust up against his ass and jerked him off was something Raihan could only dream of in the past. This was a fantasy he’d made reality, and he couldn’t have been higher off it if he tried.

Hop trembled in his lap, causing him to laugh when he moved his hand up and down his slowly growing erection. Raihan kissed the side of his face. “Feels good, yeah? I’ll do this for you every day if you want me to, baby. I’ll do anything you want me to, no matter how degrading—if it’s for you, I’ll love every second of it.” He meant it. Raihan would get on his hands and knees and suck him off if Hop wanted him to. Raihan would let Hop spit in his face and call him a slut if he wanted. Fuck, he’d love it too. Raihan would love anything Hop would want to do to him, even if he threw dirt in his face—it really didn’t matter. Hop could step on his cock if he wanted, he could treat Raihan as though he were worth less than the gum on the bottom of his shoe.

And Raihan would love it.

“If you want to, Hop…” He trailed off only to plant a kiss to the side of his face, Hop shivering below him, letting out uncomfortable moans every once in a while as he was pumped. “You could even go inside me if you want, baby. You can fuck me. I don’t mind—I’d love it, I’d fucking _love it_ if you wanted to.”

“R-Raihan, _please._ I can’t _do this._ ” As Raihan pumped him, Hop shivered in his lap, a multitude of sobs clawing their way from his throat until he sounded on the verge of breaking down again, his face on fire and only turning redder the longer Raihan pumped him. He was surprised by Hop’s resilience so far, as normally when he’d start touching him, Hop got—

Hop suddenly gripped hold of Raihan’s shorts underneath him, squeezing the fabric between his fingers and it was then that something warm and moist sprayed out into Raihan’s hand. Wha—he didn’t even feel the precum before he—

_Oh._

The warmth spread down Raihan’s hands and into his lap, soaking into Hop’s underwear until it hit Raihan’s cock, and when the scent smacked him in the face, Raihan froze for a moment, realizing way too late that Hop had…well.

He hadn’t been lying after all. Hop really _did_ have to pee, and Raihan’s face heated at the sensation of Hop’s mess dribbling all down his lap. With Raihan frozen for a moment, Hop reached up and covered his face, letting out the most choked sound of shame Raihan had ever heard him make, and he couldn’t help himself.

He was hard before, but with the warmth of Hop’s mess against him, Raihan was about to come, and he gripped the back of Hop’s shirt, pulling him further into his lap as he thrust up against him, and Raihan was about to explode. He was no stranger to fucked up shit like this, but when it was Hop—

When it was Hop, he really was fucking depraved. The kid could do anything, literally _anything_ , even accidentally peeing himself like this, and Raihan got off. Raihan was thrusting up against him as Hop covered his shame, his face so red from embarrassment, so mortified by what he’d done, Raihan could see the tips of his ears and neck were red as well, sobs bubbling from the back of his throat, and still, Raihan rubbed his cock against him. It didn’t matter how humiliated Hop was right now, but Raihan was gone—he was fucking gone with it and he didn’t shy away at all from rutting up against his ass.

There were too many sensations hitting him at once. Hop bouncing in his lap as he went at him, the scent of Hop’s accident lingering in the air, the warmth in his lap that had soaked Hop’s bottom now cooling off way too quickly, and Raihan couldn’t help it—he couldn’t fucking help it.

He was drunk off it, and he didn’t care that Hop was crying in his lap once more, hiding his shame from view, but with a final thrust up against his ass, Raihan held onto Hop, burying his face into the side of his neck when he came. His cum spurted out, all inside his own shorts as Raihan hadn’t gotten the chance to expose himself with all that was happening, but it didn’t matter. The mixture of cum and pee against him only made Raihan moan all the more, and Hop only continued sobbing, covering his face as Raihan rode himself out, as he kissed the side of his neck and held him close, that feeling of blacking out hitting full force until Raihan thought he would pass out for real.

He sucked his neck, rutting his dick into him, overwhelmed by all that was happening. Raihan must have died. He must have fucking died, because he was _so happy._ “Hop—love you so much, baby. F- _fuck_ , Hop…Y-you’re so beautiful.”

The high died down way too quickly when his orgasm faded, Raihan breathing heavy once he quieted down, kissing Hop’s neck, and holding the kid closer even as he cried from humiliation. The haze of orgasm was never long enough, not for Raihan, and he lifted his face from Hop’s neck, giving him a soft smile despite his face being covered. Hop quaked in his lap, fresh tears falling, his face so red, Raihan could feel the heat coming off him from how close he was, and he leaned in to kiss his knuckles, trying to gently pry his hands from his face.

It broke his heart to see him so embarrassed by what he’d done, but Raihan didn’t mind one bit. There was no reason for Hop to be ashamed—it was Raihan’s fault for not believing him, but the kid was sobbing now, not even reacting when Raihan brushed his mouth against his knuckles.

“Don’t cry, baby, it’s okay. Don’t be embarrassed.” Honestly, that was one of the more intense orgasms Raihan had ever had, but he didn’t know what he could really say to the kid right now to calm him down. He’d wet his pants, _of course_ he was ashamed and wanted to hide. If only Raihan could convince him it was kind of hot and he didn’t mind at all, but he knew Hop wouldn’t see it that way.

He only cried, not daring to move his hands from his face even as Raihan tried to gently coax him into exposing his face, he wasn’t budging. It would do no good to sit here in their mess like this, so with a sigh, as much as he’d rather stay here and soak in the euphoria for a bit longer, Raihan pulled himself from the couch, lifting Hop into his arms as he did so.

“Come on, I’ll clean you up.” As he carried Hop down the hallway toward his bathroom, he nuzzled his face against his hair, applying small kisses and trying to reassure him as Hop only continued wailing, never once uncovering his face. Raihan doubted he’d ever seen him cry this hard before, but he held him close, trying to offer him any comfort he could spare him right now. The poor kid didn’t need to feel this way—Raihan honestly loved it. “Hop, it’s okay. I’m not mad or anything. You don’t have to be embarrassed.” He kissed the top of his head again, crossing the threshold to his room before coming up on the bathroom. Gently as he could, he placed Hop in the tub, attempting to pull his shirt off, but Hop still wouldn’t uncover his face and work with him. 

With a sigh, Raihan pulled his pajama bottoms off instead, having to work awkwardly to untangle them from his legs. The large stain on the crotch was all too noticeable and the least Raihan could do was get him undressed from the waist down without making him watch. As best as he could, Raihan rolled both his underwear and bottoms into a ball before chucking them into the corner, out of sight. He pulled his own shorts off, doing the same for them, as there was not only a stain from Hop’s mess, but Raihan’s cum was stained on the inside as well. Once Raihan had undressed himself, he stepped into the tub beside Hop, and gently gripped his arm to try and tug it away from his face.

Hop didn’t budge, but he’d stopped crying so hard, now only shivering and squeezing his legs together as he sat in the corner of the tub.

“Come on, Hop.” Raihan tugged against him again, speaking to him in as soft a voice as he could muster. “I gotta take your shirt off. We need to clean you. You don’t want to sit here in your mess all night, do you?” He hadn’t meant to sound pushy or like he was blaming him, but he needed at least a little cooperation from Hop so that he could properly clean the both of them. With another tug on his arm, Hop fell lax, his eyes slammed shut as tears pooled out of the corners, his entire face such a deep shade of red, Raihan was sure he’d never seen him so embarrassed before, not even when they were fucking.

He gave a small smile, trying to be as comforting as possible. Hop needed all the comfort he could afford right now and Raihan would give everything he could possibly give him. If Hop needed it, Raihan was all too happy to oblige. 

“That’s it, you don’t have to look at me if you don’t want to. Just calm down, it’ll be okay. Don’t be embarrassed, Hop, it’s okay.”

As he tugged the hem of Hop’s t-shirt, he pulled it over his head, Hop lifting his arms to accommodate the movement, until the two of them were finally completely naked. Once Hop’s shirt was tossed to the floor with the rest of their clothes, Raihan reached up on the wall to grab the removable shower head and turned the faucet on. It sprayed out cold water before slowly heating up, Raihan adjusting the knobs to find a comfortable temperature.

Hop was still in the corner, eyes closed, but he’d finally stopped crying, now only sitting there with his face on fire, shivering even before Raihan gently glided the water over him. He paid extra attention to his crotch, as that’s where most of the mess was, and he worked as deliberately as possible, being slow and gentle with his movements as he rinsed away the shame of Hop’s mess. The kid finally stopped shivering so much, even opening his eyes, though he kept his gaze locked firmly to the bottom of the tub so as not to look at Raihan.

As Raihan lathered up a washcloth with soap, Hop’s face softened from the intense red he’d been sporting all this time, until only a light shade of pink remained. He didn’t say a word as Raihan washed him off, even spreading his legs open for him so he could clean between them which surprised the hell out of Raihan. He figured Hop would put up a fight, or at least demand to clean himself, but the kid was probably so mortified and ashamed for wetting himself that something like this probably didn’t even matter anymore.

At least, Raihan wanted to imagine it was because he trusted him, but he knew that wasn’t true. Judging by the look on his face alone, Hop was exhausted.

Raihan was exhausted.

The night’s events had worn him out in more than one way, and he just wanted to put this whole thing behind them and move on. Not just for his sake, but Hop’s too.

Raihan sat there cleaning him for what felt like hours, gently running the soapy washcloth along his limbs, cleaning his legs for him, washing away every scrap of evidence for what had transpired before moving onto himself. Hop bunched his legs where he curled into a ball the whole time Raihan washed himself, being a bit rougher with his movements as he just wanted to get out of the shower now, but he scrubbed himself until his own grime and filth was washed away down the drain.

The bathroom had steamed up considerably by the time they were done and Raihan eventually turned the shower off, stepping over the edge of the tub to reach a few towels down in the cabinet. He dried himself before wrapping the towel around his waist and left one on the toilet for Hop, peering back over to see he hadn’t moved from his spot yet.

“I’m going to change. I’ll be back. You should dry off and get some fresh clothes.” Taking a moment to glance at the pile of dirty clothes in the corner, Raihan added, “Don’t worry about those, I’ll get them later.” There was no way he was making Hop pick up that mess, he couldn’t put the poor kid through that, especially since it wasn’t his fault, but he would deal with that tomorrow. With that, he let himself out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him to give Hop some privacy (not that that really mattered all that much anymore, but it was the gesture that counted.)

Raihan let out a tired sigh once he was in his room, fishing out a pair of pajamas for himself. It had been one hell of a fucking night, that was for damn sure, and he was exhausted. It was probably well after midnight, and he had a feeling the two of them were going to sleep in and he’d probably get a barrage of texts from Leon about why he bailed on him before, but he couldn’t be bothered to worry about shit like that now. All that mattered was sleep, and he would deal with the dirty deeds tomorrow once he’d gotten some rest.

After dressing himself in a t-shirt and boxers, Raihan exited his bedroom to see Goodra and Duraludon still roaming around, the both of them having perked up once he entered into the hallway, and he smiled as Goodra approached him, peering at him like she was worried what all the fuss had been about. Raihan pat her head, giving her a smile when she nuzzled against his palm. “Thanks for taking care of the kid.” He looked over at Duraludon from down the hall, who looked curious, but seemed perfectly content to stay in the kitchen also. “You too, you big lug.”

As he passed the living room, Raihan flicked off the television which had been buzzing in the backdrop that whole time, turning off all the lights once he was done. The quiet darkness that met him afterward only reminded him how tired he was, but he trudged back to Hop’s room. The bedside lamp was on, and the kid had dragged himself out of the bathroom in the time it took Raihan to dress in his pajamas. He sat at the foot of his bed, wearing fresh pajamas of his own, staring down at the carpet and didn’t even react once Raihan walked in.

“Babe?” He was met with no response, no acknowledgements that Hop had even heard him, but Raihan couldn’t blame him. It hadn’t just been a hell of a night for Raihan, but Hop too, so Raihan shut the door behind him and crossed the way, before he approached Hop’s bed. He peeled back the covers, pushing the pillows into a comfortable spot until he’d made everything as cozy for the kid as possible. Looking over at him, it was apparent Hop had no interest in moving very much, not that Raihan could blame him. He was probably still humiliated with what had happened, and Raihan himself should have been a little embarrassed he’d gotten off that much to being peed on, but unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for him), Raihan just didn’t care. There was no room for shame when Hop was involved after all. 

Hop twiddled with his fingers while Raihan worked, occasionally playing with the hem of his shirt, but once Raihan finished, he stood next to Hop, reaching out to run his fingers through his hair. He received no reaction from Hop. “Babe?” Trailing his fingers down his hair, he brushed his knuckles against the edge of his face, receiving absolutely no reaction whatsoever from Hop. “Baby?” Raihan bent over, kissing the top of his head and giving him a soft smile. “Come on, let’s go to bed.”

To his absolute surprise, Hop nodded, but made no movements to actually climb under the covers, so Raihan took that as his cue to loop his arms under his legs and pulled him off the bed. Hop reached up to clutch onto the collar of his shirt for support as he was carried bridal style until being gently fitted underneath the covers. The kid finally took the initiative to crawl the rest of the way under the blankets, until he’d rolled over with his back facing Raihan, curled into a ball. Not that Raihan could blame him for wanting to face away from him. If Hop needed it, he would let him take all the time until he was ready to face him again.

It was the least he could do for him.

Flicking the lamp off, the bedroom was awash in darkness, the only light being from the moonlight streaming in from the window, and Raihan climbed into bed, fitting himself up behind Hop as he rolled onto his side, pulling Hop against his chest so he could spoon him. The kid trembled, but didn’t pull away, and Raihan rolled the covers up over both of them, until he could feel the heat of Hop’s body so comfortably against him, and he sighed once he settled, kissing the top of Hop’s hair.

“I love you, Hop.” And he meant it. Raihan meant that with his entire body, with every ounce of his _being_ , he loved this kid so much. So _fucking much._ There wasn’t a force on earth that couldn’t convince Raihan that this was the way things were meant to be, that Hop was meant to be with him like this, and the two of them were made for each other.

Hop belonged with him.

Just as he began to nod off, he thought he heard—could’ve sworn he heard Hop quietly crying once more, but Raihan wasn’t sure if it was his imagination. He _was_ exhausted after all, so maybe he was just hearing things, but he was too tired to investigate at this point and only nuzzled his face into the back of Hop’s hair.

With Hop in his arms like this to share his warmth, feeling as though he hadn’t been this comfortable in ages, Raihan finally drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a few months ago, i wrote a prequel to this fic, the first draft i ever wrote had fem Hop, and i just recently published it on privatter, if any of you guys are interested in reading it. yeah, one night stand Hop used to be a girl sldkfklsj where this fic stands now is a direct aftermath to this prequel that I wrote. all you need is a twitter account to view it, i think. 
> 
> https://privatter.net/p/6407547
> 
> i hope the link works! thank you guys as always for your support and i'll see you later! ;-;


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG real life has been very busy ;-; 
> 
> as always, thank you so much for your support!! it means a lot to me! :D

He could still remember the day he first touched himself to that kid.

Raihan had been sixteen, visiting Leon’s house for one of the rare weekends both boys were free from their duties as Leon had his own slew of responsibilities now that he was champion, but with Raihan having become the Hammerlocke gym leader, he was buried in a lot of work himself. Who would have thought that becoming a gym leader involved so much _boring paperwork?_

Half the time, Raihan was at his wit’s end, wishing he could drop the whole responsibility, but it was the easiest way for him to get closer to Leon. That is—closer to _beating_ him. Even after all this time, Raihan still longed for the honor of being the one to beat Leon and call himself the champion. The battles between the two were steadily growing in popularity to the point Leon joked with him they would be selling sold out events before too long.

That would be nice, but in the meantime, Raihan had other things on his mind. Mainly, Leon’s little brother.

The only reason Raihan managed to find an excuse to come down to Postwick to visit was because it was the kid’s birthday tomorrow, and Leon never missed his brother’s birthdays, even going as far as to purchase him the most expensive Pokémon merchandise (having financial stability was just another perk to being champion). Seriously, Raihan couldn’t believe that little kid was turning nine already. It seemed like just yesterday, he’d come visit to see that little bundle of energy running around the place, insisting Leon play with him (which he always did), while Raihan kept to himself, admiring Hop from afar, but never placing himself into a scenario in which he didn’t belong. He just wanted to keep his distance for his own sanity, but Leon was starting to catch on to his cold nature toward his brother and even downright asked him once if Hop was annoying him, to which Raihan practically choked on his own spit.

Hop could never annoy him, but he couldn’t tell that to fucking Leon of all people. The only way he could save himself from these obsessive thoughts was to pretend like he wasn’t interested in the kid at all, and while that broke his heart, he’d much rather Leon think he just didn’t know how to handle kids than to know that Raihan had—well…a _thing_ for him in the first place. That wasn’t a conversation he ever planned to have either. No way he could up and admit, yeah, he had sexual fantasies about Leon’s soon to be nine-year-old brother.

Oh, Raihan was fucked. He was fucked the moment he went down to Leon’s house, having to bite the blood from his lip so he wouldn’t smile at Hop when the kid bounded over to hug his brother, happy for his return. It had been way too long Raihan saw the kid, and while he was still short, Raihan could see an obvious change. Give the kid a few more years, he’ll be gorgeous. Not that he wasn’t already gorgeous, but—aw _fuck_ , Raihan was blushing simply thinking about it, and he had to excuse himself to the restroom.

While Leon was downstairs chatting with his mother and gushing about his time in Wyndon to Hop, Raihan was holed up in the bathroom, turning the faucet of the sink on so that they couldn’t make out what he was doing. He was still sixteen, not very experienced in the least, but he knew one thing and one thing only. Raihan wanted to jizz. And he wanted to jizz at the image of that kid with the biggest smile on his face. Maybe it was for him, maybe not, but Raihan could always fantasize that it was.

He stood there in the bathroom, shorts yanked down past his hips as he hovered over the toilet, not wanting to make a mess if he could help it (that was another conversation he did _not_ want to have with Leon), but overall confident that everyone downstairs would be none the wiser. Hand wrapped around his dick, Raihan pumped himself, reaching up with his opposite hand to cover his mouth, muffling his moans. It was embarrassing how quickly he could get off to that kid, but there was no hesitance whatsoever once he made up his mind. Raihan had already been battling with himself for a long time about his true feelings for that kid, how he definitely was not, absolutely no way at all, one hundred percent NOT attracted to him. He was just a kid for fuck’s sake, and Raihan might have been a teenager, but even he knew that was fucked up still.

However, that didn’t seem to stop him from holing up in Leon’s bathroom, touching himself to thoughts of Hop, pumping his already hardened cock to the idea of that kid climbing up in his lap to play with the collar of his shirt, to gyrate his hips over Raihan’s crotch before ‘accidentally’ rubbing his ass against his dick. Somehow, despite Hop being innocent and bubbly, Raihan got off to the thought of him being a closeted depraved slut. Just downright coming to him, begging Raihan to fuck him while he couldn’t get out of his clothes fast enough, lust shown in his eyes while he climbed in his lap, grabbing his face until his nails dug into him, and kissing him so hard that Raihan couldn’t breathe.

It was a nice fantasy, but one Raihan knew was just that. A fantasy.

When precum began to seep from the tip, Raihan had to go into overdrive covering his mouth and muffling the sounds he was making. He was about to come fast, as much as he wanted it to last much longer than this, but with the urge to jizz already coming to a head (ha), he couldn’t hold off much longer. With his hand still covering his own mouth, biting the side of his tongue to keep himself in check, Raihan gave himself a final stroke before his muscles tensed up all at once and he came. It wasn’t the first time he touched himself, not even the first time he touched himself while hanging out with Leon somewhere, but this was the first time he imagined such a hardcore fantasy involving Hop.

The kid lingered in the back of his mind, even as the haze overtook him and Raihan blanched against the toilet, having to grip the edge of the sink right next to it to avoid his legs giving out on him. “H-Hop…” His own lust betrayed him when his name slipped out of his mouth, snapping Raihan back to reality in the cruelest way possible.

His hand was covered in cum, his heart pounding from the intensity of his orgasm, and Raihan stared at the mess he’d created with a horrifying thought—

He was attracted to Hop. That little kid, Leon’s little brother—Raihan was actually _sexually attracted_ to him, and it freaked him the fuck out as he stood there, breathing heavier and heavier with every second that passed until he was almost hyperventilating. What kind of sick person did something like this? What kind of fucking depraved pervert was he to have fantasies of a _child?_

Distancing himself from Hop only made those feelings come back three times stronger when he was around him. The only way to fix this was to completely rip himself away from this place—just get the fuck away from this kid, because Raihan didn’t trust himself not to do something horrible with the way his imagination was getting away with him. He never took himself as the type of person to act on a whim, to willingly go out and hurt someone else, especially a kid, but that was the thing. Raihan didn’t _want_ to hurt this kid. He didn’t want to lose himself in this insanity and give into his lust simply for a cheap thrill. This kid was _not_ a cheap thrill. It wasn’t anything like that. Raihan didn’t exactly know what it was, but he knew he didn’t want to wind up hurting him just because he was horny.

Whatever this was, Raihan vowed to put a stop to it. He’d distance himself from Hop, maybe get himself a girlfriend or boyfriend, hell it didn’t matter really, and maybe after he got a few nuts out his system, he would be over this silly phase of thinking Leon’s little brother was hot as fuck.

He nodded to himself as he cleaned up, having wiped away all the evidence of his actions from the bathroom before washing his hands and making his way back downstairs to join in the festivities. His heart only thumped in his chest at the sight of Hop’s wide grin when he opened a present Leon had brought for him, flinging his arms around his brother and exclaiming how it was something he’d always wanted. Their mother offered Raihan a glass of soda and some snacks while they all sat around and had a fun time, but—

Never once did Raihan’s gaze leave Hop, his heart thumping in his chest, his cheeks heated by how happy this kid was being surrounded by presents and birthday cake, and wishing he was anywhere but right here.

* * *

The coming week was anything but relaxing.

Life with Hop was amazing, it was true, as Raihan had been in heaven that next morning when he woke up, Hop in his arms, the scent of his wash and shampoo wafting in the air and only adding to Raihan’s utter bliss, but the tapping at the bedroom door roused him from that pretty quick. Having not wanted to separate himself from Hop so early, just wanting to cuddle him some more, Raihan grumbled in annoyance when the tapping did not cease. Judging by the little chirps and whatnot coming from the opposite side, Raihan ventured a guess it was his Rotom waking him up, possibly with an important text or call, and as much as he’d like to continue nuzzling onto Hop, he had to force himself up and out of bed, being mindful not to rouse his boyfriend in the process ( _oh_ he blushed at the fact he just thought of Hop as his boyfriend). Creeping to the door, he opened it only a crack before spying his phone floating in the air, the screen facing him while the entire phone vibrated with a call.

Oh _fuck_ , Raihan’s stomach sank at the sight of Leon’s name on the caller ID. He waved off his Rotom, trying not to be loud and wake Hop as he mouthed the words, _‘Hang up, hang up now.’_ Batting his hands back and forth at his phone in a desperate attempt for the Rotom not to accept the call, the Pokemon gave a quieted chirp before the screen went black and Raihan sighed in relief. He had no idea what the fuck he was going to tell Leon about last night, because while he wasn’t as much of a lightweight as his friend, he only hoped Leon didn’t remember he had strangled him. If nothing else, Raihan could always say he was drunk and horny or something and got carried away, but he did _not_ want to have that conversation right now. Especially not with Hop sleeping mere feet behind him.

Instead, he grabbed the phone out of the air, swiping open his screen and shot Leon a quick text that was some ham-fisted excuse about how he couldn’t talk now, he was too hungover, yadda yadda, bullshit. To Raihan’s complete relief, Leon replied not long after, merely saying he was worried if he got back home safely and that Raihan should get some rest. 

Lucky for him that Leon was an idiot.

Raihan almost wanted to fall back against the wall in exhaustion. While he was angry at Leon’s seemingly lack of concern for Hop’s wellbeing, he couldn’t deny having Leon be too stupid to question him made all this much easier than it needed to be. It wasn’t like Raihan wanted him up his ass suspicious of him, but—the point still stood. And with how Leon admitted to him (drunkenly) that he had a thing for Hop, well that only sealed the deal even more that Hop was staying right here with him. Not like Raihan planned to let him go before but knowing that his creepy older brother wanted to bang him was something Raihan was not okay with. Leon should’ve considered himself lucky that Raihan didn’t beat the shit out of him for that comment, because while he knew Leon was drunk when he said it and could have chalked it up to incoherent ramblings, Raihan could tell he was truthful with that whole spill. He’d suspected it out of jealousy before but having it hand delivered on a silver platter was all the more enraging.

If Leon thought he was ever going to get with Hop like that, he had another fucking thing coming. At least, it made Raihan feel better that Hop did not reciprocate at all. He’d lose his damn mind if that kid actually admitted he’d been in a relationship with his brother this whole time. And while Raihan couldn’t deny the idea of Hop lusting after his own brother turned him on, it also pissed him off, because Hop was _his, dammit._ He’d been the one who’d been in love with him since he was a teenager. He’d taken more care of this kid than his stupid family ever did, and he knew it.

With that being said—

Raihan stole a glance behind himself at Hop’s sleeping form still curled under the covers, breathing heavy and appearing so serene like that poor kid hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep in ages and to be quite honest, was probably true. After last night, Raihan had no doubt he was emotionally exhausted from all that happened and while he didn’t mind being peed on, he knew it embarrassed the fuck out of him. It’d be better to leave him to himself for awhile until the shame passed, but all Raihan could really do now was reassure and be nicer to him. And he started with gathering up the soiled clothes that were still stuffed into the corner of the bathroom. Having marinated overnight in the mess, the odor was obvious, but Raihan quickly and quietly cleaned it from the bathroom so Hop wouldn’t have to deal with that once he woke up, immediately dumping the clothes into the wash.

He let Hop sleep as long as he wanted to, fixing him breakfast (eggs, what else), while busying himself with random chores around the apartment. Goodra and Duraludon kept him company for a while and he decided to leave Goodra out of her poké ball, more for Hop’s sake than anything else. For some reason, the two of them bonded rather quickly, and Hop probably needed a companion who wasn’t Raihan he could turn to. Raihan didn’t mind if he wanted to cling to Goodra more. Besides, the kid wouldn’t be needing his Pokémon anymore. Raihan made sure to drop them off at the center where they were guaranteed to be taken care of, (which in truth sparked some questions from the nurses but Raihan deflected it all by saying they had been ones he found abandoned) though he always assured Hop his partners were safe anytime he asked about them. To be quite honest, he was tempted to throw them into the canal along with Hop’s cellphone, but even Raihan wasn’t that much of a monster.

Raihan kept good on his word. When Hop first came from sleep that day, he only did the bare minimum in regard to speaking with him, letting the kid have free reign and hang out with Goodra if he wanted. Most of what he’d done was make sure he was eating, bringing him junk food if he wanted, and letting him watch the telly. Later on in the week, Raihan even dug through a pile of old boxes under his bed and found his old DS. It’d been ages he’d played with that thing, but he still had a case full of games for it, and he figured the kid could get more use out of it than him, so he handed it off while Hop was on the couch.

He could tell the kid was getting bored, having not much else to do other than watch television and sometimes Raihan even caught him reading books, but there was nothing for him to do in this place. Had this been any other time under normal circumstances, Raihan would have had the both of them out and about, touring the city, traveling around, even exploring the wild area so that Hop could stretch his legs, but that just wasn’t reality right now. He didn’t necessarily like keeping the kid cooped up in here with him, but there wasn’t a whole lot Raihan could do.

His neck prickled with sweat.

Unless he did something extreme like—oh say, take a vacation to another region for the summer. With the gym challenge being concluded for the year, Raihan had a lot of time off, and he planned to take advantage as much as possible, but there were just too many factors to take into account when it came to fantasizing about flying off to Alola or something with Hop. Nice in theory, but a nightmare once Raihan realized all the hoops he’d have to jump through not only to keep Hop quiet but cover his tracks as well.

Yeah, that wasn’t going to work.

Still though, he wanted to do something nice for him, and he spent the better part of the week keeping his distance, only striking up conversations unless he absolutely had to, and even kept himself in check by sleeping in his own bed for once. By the end of the week, Raihan found himself out wandering around the city, occasionally glancing up at the tower from where he stood down on the asphalt and had to marvel at how high up his apartment really was. It wasn’t in the very center of the castle, as that’s where the stadium and power plant had to go, but Raihan’s living quarters were more off to the side, way up high where nobody would really think twice about. From the outside, it looked to be just another tower amongst the majesty that was otherwise Hammerlocke castle. A lot of people came and went, absorbed in their own tasks, but nobody, at least not the people who called this place home, ever really paid the castle much attention.

The novelty had worn off, after all. Upon coming here the first time, it was easy to get overwhelmed by the mass expanse of it all, but even Raihan had gotten so used to it by this point, he never really took the time to admire how beautiful the castle actually was. And while he stood there gawking at it while contemplating getting Hop some cake or something sweet to try and ease his way back into the swing of things, it hit him—why not just let the kid outside for a little while? Not out of the castle itself, but there were plenty of spaces surrounding the tower that were off limits to civilians, places only Raihan as the gym leader had access to, and they’d be pretty high up.

He could take Hop to one of the lookout towers and get him some fresh air, hold his hand while the kid got out of that stuffy apartment for once. It wasn’t the same as actually going to town and exploring, but it was better than nothing. And Raihan was pretty confident nobody would really notice them up there. Even if they did get spotted, nobody would know who the fuck Hop was (that was sad to admit, but true), and as long as Raihan kept an eye on him so that Hop didn’t run off, he didn’t see the harm in letting him outside like that.

Poor kid didn’t deserve to be cooped up like that, because Raihan really _did_ want him to be happy, he really wanted to showcase his love for that kid but knew now wasn’t the best time for proclamations of that magnitude. No—he needed to take baby steps with this, as he should’ve done from the very beginning. To start with, Raihan headed into the nearby market store, picking out a few things he thought Hop might like. Sweet things. The kid loved his cake, as Raihan had found out early on Hop had a sweet tooth, and during the times he followed him around during his gym challenge, he had acquired a taste for coffee as well (though he loaded it with waaaay too much sugar). Seriously, what was it with these two brothers and their obsession with sugar?

Raihan didn’t hate sweets by any means, but after watching Leon ingest an entire bag of candy in one sitting by himself once when they were younger, he felt like he could go several years without ever setting eyes on a piece of chocolate ever again. However, Hop loved them, so he could always make an exception.

It was midday by the time Raihan exited the store, a bag full of sweets tucked in one arm while a bag on his opposite arm held a box of packaged curry. It wasn’t as fancy as the nearby restaurant’s was, but he thought it might be fun if he could talk Hop into helping him cook. He’d followed that kid around long enough to know he was becoming better and better as a chef, and Raihan was honestly curious what one of his dishes tasted like.

It made a smile curl on his face as he ascended the elevator up to the highest floor it would go in the castle before disembarking and having to walk the rest of the way up the tower. The first time Hop ever cooked for his Pokémon, Raihan had been not too far behind (just to make sure he was kept safe was all), and he almost burst out laughing at the moment Hop took his first bite of curry, having appeared so confident before while his Wooloo looked on in awe, practically salivating—only for the both of them to choke on that first bite, Wooloo spitting out chunks of it onto the ground. Hop’s entire face had fallen, and even from the distance he’d been watching him, Raihan could see the look of absolute regret and disgust on his face as Hop forced himself to eat the botched meal.

Ever since then, the kid had taken it upon himself to get better at cooking, sometimes staying up till the middle of the night practicing over his fire pit while his partners slept around him. It warmed Raihan’s heart to see him take such good care of his Pokémon like that, as Hop really was a sweet kid. He wasn’t nearly as annoying as Leon could be, and while Raihan had fun hanging out with Leon, Hop had this innocence to him that drove him crazy. Yes, he was overconfident. Yes, he could be obnoxious sometimes, but Raihan saw those moments where he’d been genuinely kind and caring. He’d seen Hop’s happy smile that made his stomach tingle with nerves, with happiness himself, because Raihan adored him so much. He loved it when that kid smiled.

And it only punched him in the gut all the more that his family treated him the way they did. Hop was too good for them, for his mother, for Leon, for everyone who treated him like he was merely Leon’s shadow the entire time. It felt like nobody really believed in him when he always bragged about becoming the new champion, and sometimes Raihan wondered if he could have been there for him from the start, if Raihan could have supported him and lit the fire in his belly, if Hop would have gone further than even Leon in the end.

But he supposed it didn’t matter much now. Raihan had been Hop’s last stop, and he never even gave that poor kid a chance to prove himself in the semifinals. If Raihan never kidnapped him, he wondered if Hop would have made it, if he really would have been the one to face off against Leon on the pitch and defeated his big brother.

It only made a horrible feeling of guilt settle down in his stomach, but thankfully, Raihan arrived at his front door before those thoughts could go too far downward into places he did not want them to go. Opening the door with his keycard, it slammed shut behind him, locking into place, and he trudged up the entryway, balancing both shopping bags as he ascended the stairs before the familiar long hallway of his apartment appeared in view.

“Hop?” he called, crossing the threshold to the kitchen before setting the bags down on the table. When he received no answer, a quick survey of the immediate area led him to the living room where Hop was currently on the couch, immersed in some cartoon show. He didn’t look up when Raihan entered, not even when he walked in front of him to block the view of the television. Raihan figured he’d at least tell him to fuck off or get out of the way or something but Hop only sat there with his knees bunched up to his chin. Try as he might to shoot him a smile, there wasn’t much Raihan could do even after a week of letting Hop keep to himself and have his peace. Poor kid was probably still embarrassed by what happened, mainly having peed on Raihan on accident, but he wasn’t sure if it was worse or not to admit to him it got him off just as well.

“Hey.” Bending over a smidgen to get level with his face, Raihan tried to engage eye contact, but Hop’s gaze was locked straight ahead, and Raihan realized he wasn’t even focusing on the tv, but just…staring at nothing. Like he wasn’t engaged with anything happening, but too spaced out in that moment, so to perk him up a little (just a little), Raihan reached out to run his fingers through his hair, tucking what small strands he could behind his ear, and he could hear a definite small gasp that Hop made, his eyes widening for a brief moment before landing on Raihan. Again, he smiled at him, trying to appear as inviting as possible, though the effort was rather wasted considering all that had happened. He spoke with a low, soft voice, anything to nudge Hop along and assure him Raihan wasn’t about to do anything scary. “Come with me. I got a surprise for you, okay?”

While Hop didn’t move immediately, as if anything else, Raihan could see him stiffen even more, but when he straightened to his full height, Raihan held out his hand for him to take, trying to entice him off the couch at least.

“It’s okay, Hop. I promise I won’t do nothing scary. I just wanna give you something.” Tipping his hand, he shuffled his fingers back and forth, hoping Hop would get the hint and grab him, but the kid only stared at him like his hand was made of fire. For a moment, Raihan figured he had receded back into his shell and was about to start snapping at him, but to his utter surprise, Hop let out a soft sigh of resignation before lowering his legs away from his chin, dangling them off the edge of the couch, and standing up straight, all without taking Raihan’s outstretched hand.

Well, he could let him get away with that—for now.

Still, Hop had complied, and it only made Raihan’s smile widen as he quickly flicked the tv off before heading toward the entryway. “Follow me.” If Hop had just taken his hand, this trek would’ve been a lot shorter, but Raihan was standing in front of the kitchen long before Hop even moved from his spot in the living room. With slow, tentative steps, the kid finally followed after him, not in any hurry to fasten the pace, but Raihan waited patiently for him by the kitchen nonetheless. If he was going to surprise him with this, he needed to give Hop all the breathing room he could afford.

Once the kid was finally in front of him, head lowered, not really focused on anything, Raihan couldn’t help to ruffle his hair a bit. He expected Hop to sputter and start swearing at him, but the kid barely did more than cringe before only mustering a small sound of discomfort.

Raihan crossed his arms, the smile never once leaving his face. “Hop, how’d you like to go outside?”

All at once, Hop’s face shot up, and Raihan didn’t know why he hadn’t even been prepared for that reaction, but at the sight of Hop’s eyes lighting up—that light Raihan hadn’t seen for fucking _weeks_ at this point—it was enough to make his heart thump in his chest. More life had just sparked into Hop with that one simple question than Raihan had seen out of him for way too long.

The guilt only festered, but he bit it down. Fuck. _Don’t think about that now_ —this was all his fault, he knew that, but _dammit_ , Raihan was keeping him because he loved him.

Hop didn’t respond, and in the span of mere seconds that Raihan saw his face light up, almost like he was excited, his expression quickly hardened into one of disbelief. He didn’t have to say anything at all. Raihan could read on his face alone that he was wary of him.

Not that he blamed him.

So, he shrugged, offering him a lopsided grin. “I’m serious, kid. Let’s go outside, get you some fresh air. It’s hot as hell today, you’ll probably be sweating your balls off, but the sky is nice and blue, there’s a gentle breeze blowing, and I’m sure a sight other than this dusty apartment would do you wonders, yeah?”

Still regarding Raihan with suspicion, Hop merely twiddled the hem of his tank top between his fingers, a nervous habit he had picked up while around Raihan, and he honestly thought it was cute as shit. Peering off to the side away from Raihan, Hop continued to squeeze and twist the fabric of his shirt, not responding. Not that Raihan really expected all that much of a response out of him, but he could tell based on his body language he had definitely piqued his interest. Kid probably just didn’t know what to say, but Raihan could tell—he could see the twitch in the corner of his mouth, the way his eyes darted every once in awhile from spot to spot on the nearby wall. Hop was itching to get out of this place, but he didn’t dare say it, either out of fear that Raihan would try to coerce him into doing something for him in return (like fucking), or that the entire thing was a cruel prank.

Either way.

Raihan smiled at him once more before extending his hand, palm up. Again, he rubbed his fingers together in an attempt to get the kid to grab on before he said, “Let’s go right now. There’s a lookout tower right above us. You can see a pretty good distance up there for miles and miles. C’mon, babe, it’ll do you good to get out and about for a little bit, right? Ain’t you tired of being cooped up in here?” He shrugged then, mostly to himself, still waiting for Hop to take his hand who hadn’t moved that entire time. “I ain’t gonna pull the rug from under your feet. I ain’t gonna ask you to do anything for me in return. This isn’t like that.” The corner of his mouth rose, exposing his fang when he smiled at him. “All I ask is you hold my hand, so you don’t go losing yourself up there, yeah?” Losing himself—more like bolting off and trying to run. Though, the lookout tower above them was a straight shot, so Hop wouldn’t have a whole lot of places to run, but Raihan felt better holding onto him regardless, just in case the kid got bold and wriggled his way down the castle somehow.

Yeah, this was a bit dangerous taking Hop somewhere he could potentially get away from him, but Raihan was damn determined to hold onto him, keep him in sight at all times, even if the kid hated it, he’d hold his hand the whole time so he couldn’t run off. Raihan was faster than him anyway. If Hop _did_ manage to escape, he could catch up to him pretty quickly, but he wasn’t about to push his luck.

A long bout of silence passed, Hop never moving, never responding, Raihan still holding his hand out for him and waiting patiently for him to mull this around in his head before coming to a decision. But, Raihan’s patience was wearing thin, and he tried to egg him on a bit, just a bit.

“Babe—”

“Stop _calling_ me that.” Hop cut him off so suddenly, Raihan almost blanched back, but instead gave another wide grin, because at least he was speaking to him now. Though, as biting as that comment was, he could tell Hop was starting to break down, little by little. It’d been too long he snapped at him in anger, and while Raihan didn’t necessarily mind when Hop got angry at him (it was kinda hot, if he was being honest and he loved the way that kid looked at him with a fire in his eyes), he could tell it was only a front. He hadn’t even been able to muster the courage to look at him, so his comment, if he was trying to be intimidating, fell horribly flat.

Raihan shrugged. Seemed he was just going to have to take the plunge himself. “Alright, sweetie, let’s go.” Without waiting for Hop to snap back for that one, as he whipped up to stare at him, mouth poised and opening to say something—Raihan grabbed hold of his hand, linking their fingers together, and could feel the resistance almost immediately when Hop pulled back.

His palm trembled against Raihan’s, feeling so small in his own, that Raihan was almost afraid he might break him on accident, but Hop finally showed some spark again when he glared up at him. “Stop— _let go_ , Raihan.” He said so through gritted teeth, still attempting to pull away, but it was almost hilarious how futile it was.

Sometimes Raihan forgot just how powerless Hop was against him. If he really wanted—really, truly wanted to, he could _wreck_ this kid. He could hold him down kicking and screaming, use his full strength to force Hop into doing whatever he wanted him to. He had the power, he knew. The strength, the speed—even if Hop was smaller than him, he knew there wasn’t much hope for this kid when it came to strength or prowess.

Raihan could _ruin him_. He could _break him_. He could literally do whatever in the fuck he wanted to with him. If he really wanted. If he really, _really_ wanted.

And there wouldn’t be a fucking thing Hop could do to stop it.

Thoughts like that were causing Raihan’s neck to break out in a cold sweat, but his quickly snapped himself out of it. Of course, he would never want to do anything like that to Hop, but he wondered if the kid knew that. After all that had happened, he knew he had every right to mistrust him, to think he was a monster.

Hell—Raihan _knew_ he was a monster. That was a small part of why he continued keeping this poor kid locked up. After all that had happened, nothing would be the same, he knew that, so what was the point in denying what he knew was true when it didn’t even matter? He’d forced this kid into situations he wasn’t ready for, he’d kidnapped him, locked him up, lied to his brother, disposed of his things so that nobody had anyway to trace him here, all because Raihan couldn’t get over the fact he’d been in love with Hop since he was little.

Surely a crush would go away after a while, right? So how come this never did? How come it festered, until Raihan thought he would lose his mind unless he did something impetuous, unless he went out of his way to drug the kid, kidnap him, and fuck him? Because that’s how this entire mess started. Raihan thought if he fucked him, if he got it out of his system and gave Hop back to the real world in the morning, then this crush would finally be over, he could finally get a moment’s rest without every single thought revolving around Hop.

But it didn’t.

Raihan was insane, he knew. This entire situation was fucking insane. No rational, calm person did things like this. No normal person let their obsession cloud their judgement so hard that they did things like this.

Raihan sighed, his grip around Hop’s hand softening somewhat. Not enough for him to yank his hand away, but enough that Raihan could draw circles onto the top of Hop’s knuckles with his thumb.

Let Hop hate him all he wanted for doing this. He didn’t care. He didn’t care if this kid never loved him, because Raihan wasn’t worthy of Hop’s love in that regard. It was a far-off fantasy for him to think if Hop got used to this, he’d finally return his feelings, but Raihan knew better. And in the end, Raihan was chasing something that didn’t exist in the first place.

Because if Hop wanted to hate him, he’d rather have that than having nothing from Hop at all.

With those thoughts weighing heavily on his mind, Raihan tried to offer Hop a soft smile to reassure him, but he couldn’t seem to gather the energy to do so right now. All he could do was gently tug Hop forward before he turned toward the opposite end of the hallway to lead them to the front door. “Let’s go.”

Hop didn’t say a word the entire way down the stairs until Raihan had to stop at the entry door to swipe his keycard. At least Hop hadn’t thrown a tantrum and tried pulling away from him or anything, so maybe he really was curious if Raihan was serious or not. Before he opened that door though, Raihan shot Hop a quick glance, catching his eye while he squeezed his hand, his opposite wrapped around the door handle.

“Kid.” His voice was low, no hint of humor there whatsoever, because he was dead serious about this. “You’re gonna hold my hand the whole time. If you try to run, if you even _think_ about trying to escape or get away—you won’t.” Squeezing Hop’s hand again, not hard enough to hurt, but firm enough to show how serious he was, he caught his eye. And he could see Hop’s eyes widen in slight fear when his voice dipped so low, but it got the point across. “I’ll chase you down, Hop. I’m faster than you and you know it. Pull anything like that, I won’t ever let you out again. Don’t bother trying to scream for help either. We’re so high up, nobody will be able to hear you. And—” He grinned, though for once it wasn’t meant to be reassuring, but just to once again hammer in the fact he wasn’t playing around with Hop about this. “I have ways to keep you quiet, kid. Don’t do nothing stupid you’ll regret once we’re out here, you got it?”

Throughout his entire spill, Hop’s palm shook in his hand again until Raihan could feel the cold sweat sticking against him, and he almost felt guilty for saying things like that, but it was true. If he didn’t make a fuss about this now, then he very well might have Hop trying some lavish escape plan, and honestly, Raihan was too lazy to deal with cleanup like that right now. Better the kid learned this now than later.

But, with a reserved stiffness, Hop’s eyes bearing into his own until Raihan could see the sparkle from earlier had all but disappeared, the kid gave a slow, solemn nod.

With his face lifting into a genuine smile this time, Raihan gave Hop’s hand a loving squeeze before pulling open the door, leading the both of them through. “Alrighty then, let’s skedaddle.”

The entire time they traveled up to the lookout tower, Raihan was surprised how compliant Hop was being. Even with his threat lingering in the air, he expected Hop to at least make some attempt of escape, even if it was subconscious, but the kid clutched onto his hand, allowing Raihan to wind them around corners, up sets of spiraling staircases, until he reached the area to the lookout tower. He’d tried to go in such a roundabout way that Hop wouldn’t see where the actual exits that lead down the castle were, because should he actually manage to escape somehow (not that that would ever happen), Raihan didn’t want him knowing where the right doors were. Yeah, he was purposefully walking them in circles to confuse him, but it was necessary.

The castle was like a maze with its limitless corridors and winding staircases, rooms that seemed to lead nowhere and everywhere at the same time. Once they were out of Raihan’s apartment, it started looking like a real castle.

After beating around the bush for several strenuous minutes, purposefully trying to confuse Hop _just in case_ , Raihan finally came upon a door that rested at the top of one of the numerous staircases that led straight outside and pushed it open. Sunlight bore down on them and he saw Hop squint out of the corner of his eye, holding his opposite hand that wasn’t clutched to Raihan’s own in front of his eyes to shield them.

It took a few seconds, a few seconds Raihan didn’t mind in the least to wait for Hop to gain his bearings before the shock of the sunlight finally wore off and his eyes adjusted, and the little gasp Hop made shouldn’t have tugged at his chest like it did. That was only a sound someone who was in complete and utter awe could ever make, a sound Raihan shouldn’t have heard from him, because he shouldn’t have been keeping Hop locked up in the first place. The kid should not have been having this reaction upon seeing a bit of sunlight for the first time in almost a month.

But that was beside the point.

Giving his hand a measured squeeze, Raihan smiled, his chest feeling tight, as he led the two of them to the balcony of the lookout tower. It wasn’t as spacious as some of the other areas of the castle, but it would serve its purpose well enough. There were a couple of benches, and even some plants set out to give the area a cozier feel.

With his hand still holding onto Hop’s, Raihan walked them both over to the edge of the balcony, gripping hold of the railing as Hop, now looking a bit more eager since they were outside, clutched the stoned edge himself as he peered over the side. They were pretty high up—a lot higher up than it looked from being on the ground. From where they stood, they could make out the expanse of the wild area just outside Hammerlocke, all the way to the Route Five bridge. The sky expanded above them, barely a cloud there today, and only magnifying how gorgeous everything was. The people below them looked like tiny little specks, everyone walking toward their daily destinations, nobody worse for wear about the knowledge Raihan and Hop were right above their heads.

Hop swallowed next to him, Raihan able to hear the sound without looking at him, because his throat was so tight, and he stole a glance at the kid, pausing in shock for a moment when he noticed Hop’s eyes welling up with tears.

“Kid?” Giving his hand a reassuring squeeze, Raihan rubbed circles against him with his thumb, hoping to calm him down. Was he scared of heights? Or maybe he was simply overwhelmed by the sight itself after having spent the majority of the past three weeks inside. Raihan’s apartment had windows, just like any other place would, but it wasn’t the same as actually being outside to soak up the elements like this. Raihan’s apartment wasn’t exactly a lookout joint. Taking his opposite hand as he didn’t want to let go of his hand, no matter how compliant Hop was, he wasn’t about to let his guard down even now, he ran his fingers through his hair, ruffling it just slightly. “What’s the matter?”

“Raihan…”

Hop so rarely said his name, but every time he did, it never failed to make Raihan’s heart flutter. If he wasn’t so concerned with why Hop was upset right now, he would’ve marveled at how the mere fact he said his name could sent a jolt of electricity through him with that word alone.

Holy fuck, _he loved him_. He loved that Hop could do this to him.

Before he could reply, Hop’s gaze finally lifted where the kid was staring him in the eye. The tears were brimming the corners, just shy of falling, making Hop’s eyes shine, and he could already see the whites growing red. “R-Raihan…” His lip trembled when he spoke, when he blinked and the tears finally pooled out, causing Hop to reach up with his free arm and furiously wipe them away. “I-it’s so close.”

He gripped his hand, feeling Hop’s palm trembling. “If you’re scared of heights, we can sit down on the bench back here. Come on.” Without waiting for Hop to respond, Raihan gently coaxed him away from the railing, leading him over to the nearby bench where he sat both of them down. The sun had been bearing down on them while they looked over the balcony, but the bench was in the shade, giving Raihan some relief from the heat once they settled down.

Hop was still struggling to dry his tears up. The kid wasn’t sobbing by any means, but Raihan could tell he was getting frustrated when they wouldn’t stop. He kept huffing, wiping his arm across every time they’d fall, just for new ones to form and fall, and his cheeks began to gush red, his brow pinching.

Raihan waited patiently while Hop tried to gain his bearings, failing, but trying, and all he could really do was sit there, hold his hand, and wait for it to pass. He wasn’t even sure if he should say something to him, as it appeared Hop was having a war with himself. He kept opening and closing his mouth like he was on the verge of telling Raihan something, but would close it, wipe his face, and turn away from him, as though too embarrassed to continue.

They sat there for so long in the silence, Raihan began to bounce his knee up and down, just to be doing something, because what else was there to do? Hop still hadn’t pulled away from him. He still hadn’t tried to run. So, there was no need for Raihan to make this any harder on him. When Hop was ready to talk to him, he would.

Finally, after the longest bout of silence Raihan felt he’d ever been through in his life, Hop quieted down next to him, his tears finally slowed, only sniffling as he sat there, but he sucked in a huge breath, closing his eyes before letting it out, and Raihan rubbed his thumb against his hand. He felt stupid asking, but it was necessary. “You okay, kid?”

When Hop opened his eyes, Raihan expected to be snapped at, or at least—have Hop return to his usual self where he griped and moaned about having to hold onto his hand, but he almost fell out of his seat when Hop finally opened his mouth to say, “I’m sorry.”

_What._

Raihan blinked in utter confusion. It took a few seconds too long for Raihan to actually open his mouth and say something to that one. “Kid, what the _hell_ are you sorry for?” If anything, Raihan was the one who should be sorry, not Hop. “You haven’t done anything wrong, I promise you.”

Hop shrugged, casting his gaze out toward the balcony. From where they were sitting, about all they could see was the blue sky anymore, the sun’s rays beating down above them, making everything hot despite how they were in the shade. It was too muggy to be out here, but Hop didn’t seem to mind the heat. He was a lot smaller and skinnier than Raihan though, so the heat probably didn’t bother him as much.

“I…” Hop sighed, having sucked in a breath before drawing it out. “I don’t know.” His hand, still clutch in Raihan’s own, gave a small squeeze. “I-I just wanna go home.”

This time, Raihan sighed, leaning back in his seat. They’d had this conversation over and over again, to the point it was just redundant white noise with no purpose. Hop knew by this point he could say that a million times and it wouldn’t change a thing. Raihan’s answer was going to be the same today and it would be the same tomorrow.

“I know you do, Hop.” He slumped down in his seat just enough to rest his head against the stone wall behind them where the bench rested against, and Raihan gazed up at the sky, once again trying his best to give Hop a reassuring squeeze on his hand, but the kid had all but fallen limp in his hold. As he sat next to him, Hop’s head hung low, having slumped like Raihan, but he stared down at the ground, as though no longer interested in sky gazing with him, not that he could blame him.

Maybe it was cruel to bring him out here, to show him how close everything was, just to prove to him that there was no escape. The city was right below them, people in their sights, though small, incredibly small, but it was evident how trapped he was. Hop couldn’t reach those people from this high up. If he jumped off the edge, there’s no way he’d survive.

Raihan thought the fresh air and beautiful scenery would cheer him up, but he should’ve known better than to do this to him. Looking at this through Hop’s perspective, this was equivalent to Raihan dangling a piece of meat in front of his face while Hop was starving, giving him no chance to actually take it from him and eat it.

Yeah, this was a bad idea.

As Raihan sat there with him, still moving soothing circles with his thumb across Hop’s knuckles, reveling in how much smaller his hand was in his, he breathed through his nose before exhaling from his mouth, gaze still locked toward the sky.

“Hop.”

The kid didn’t move, didn’t give any indication he’d heard him, but Raihan squeezed his hand anyway.

“Hop…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you upset, I just—” Just what? What the fuck was he doing? Raihan fumbled over his words, his chest feeling tight as he spoke, when he couldn’t even look the kid in the eye while he said this. “I never wanted to lock you up, kid. I never wanted any of this to happen. You…” He swallowed, his throat feeling tight, and he could feel how Hop’s fingers tightened between his. Every little tremble this kid made, Raihan could feel it. “I really don’t know why the fuck I’m doing all this. I’m _crazy_ about you, though. I have been for a long time.” His cheeks felt hot, and Raihan closed his eyes, his skin prickling with sweat the longer they sat out there in the humidity. “I fell in love with you the moment I first saw you. I just didn’t realize it at the time.”

Hop shifted next to him, and out of the corner of his eye, Raihan could see him lift his head, but he didn’t turn toward him. He didn’t engage at all.

“I was always too scared to say anything. Didn’t want to freak you out, you know? Didn’t want Leon giving me hell about having feelings for his little brother too. Shit—wish I had just asked you out back then. Wonder where we’d be right now if I had.” He snorted through his nose, but there was a severe lack of actual humor to it. It was cruel irony at best. “Probably wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Not like _you_ ever had feelings for me, right? Too busy chasing that little not-girlfriend of yours, yeah?” Now he was rambling, he knew, but Raihan was already pouring his heart out, so what the fuck did it matter if he rambled to him like this?

Least he could do was be honest for once.

“You never once left my mind, Hop. I wish you could feel it—the way it feels to be so in love with someone that you’re scared you’re going crazy.” His chest tightened, his entire face feeling heated, though that could have been attributed to the weather, but Raihan wasn’t sure anymore. His throat felt tight, and he had to swallow in order to continue. “I spent years, kid— _years_ tryna get you outta my head. I tried so hard to convince myself I was in love with Leon. I slept with a lot of people—fans, paparazzi, whoever was willing to fuck—I got around. I thought I could drown out those thoughts if I tried hard enough, but—”

Hop’s hand trembled again, this time much more noticeable than last time. Noticeable enough he could hear his breathing start to turn heavier.

Raihan finally lifted his head away from the wall, casting his gaze downward with Hop, and before he could stop himself, he lifted Hop’s hand up toward his face, clutching the underside of his palm before he dragged Hop’s knuckles across his lips, giving him a soft kiss. Hop shuddered beneath him, but remained frozen in his spot, refusing to look at him, but even from here, he could see his face was a deep shade of red.

“But…” Lowering their hands, he linked them back together, tightening his hold around Hop once again, the smallest of smiles curling on his mouth. “I couldn’t, Hop. I could never forget about you. I wish things didn’t happen the way they did. I don’t like keeping you locked up like this. I want you to be able to visit your family, but—” He swallowed again to wet his throat, the tightness more prevalent than ever. “But I want you _with me._ I don’t think I can live without you, babe. Being with you like this has been…” A fluttering sensation swept through his chest and Raihan couldn’t help when a small laugh escaped, but he was shaking now, more out of the desperate need for Hop to understand than anything. “I feel like I’m finally alive. You don’t know how happy you make me.”

Releasing his hand for the first time since they crossed the threshold from the apartment, Raihan instead looped it around Hop’s shoulders, pulling him close until he was leaned right up against him. Hop’s breath hitched, and Raihan could feel him grow stiff against him, but he didn’t pull away. He didn’t attempt to get up and run, but with the way Raihan had his arm draped over him, he was probably even more trapped than he’d been before.

Raihan leaned over as far as he could to get level with him, as he kissed the side of his face, Hop’s cheek feeling so scalding hot against his mouth from embarrassment that he almost winced, but he didn’t let up. He applied small kisses to his cheek, his jaw, his ear, wherever he could reach from here.

“Hop, I’m sorry things happened this way, I really am.” He closed his eyes, nuzzling his nose into his hair, feeling a sense of euphoria wash over him at the scent of whipped cream wafting up his nostrils. “But I love you.”

“You…” Hop only shifted uncomfortably next to him, but didn’t make any attempts to run away, not even to push him off. He sat there and let Raihan continue to kiss the side of his face, his hair, whatever he could get his mouth onto, Hop let him. “Y-you’re going to get tired of me. I don’t _get you_ —this is so much trouble to go through, even if you claim to love me.” Hop tensed. “You’re going to get bored one day.”

And he had to laugh at that one, Raihan pulling his face away to straighten up. His mouth curled into a grin as he continued holding onto Hop, enjoying the feeling of his body pressed up against him despite the heat. “Kid, if I was gonna get tired of you, I’d of done it already. Woulda done it years ago.”

Hop said nothing, but Raihan could feel him cringe in his arms.

He let out a rather tired-sounding sigh, not meaning to sound annoyed, but nothing he said was ever going to get through to him, he knew. It was pointless to keep having this conversation over and over, but maybe Hop just needed some time.

It’d only been a few weeks since Raihan first kidnapped him, after all. It was way too soon to expect him to simply accept that this was his life now.

Raihan bent over again to continue kissing his cheek, trying to dip low enough to catch the corner of his mouth, but Hop turned his face the opposite way, causing Raihan to reach up, nab his chin, and pull him back. With that little movement, he was surprised by Hop’s complacency. Once he turned him back around, Hop didn’t dare move again, even when Raihan lifted his chin up to finally face him head on where he kissed Hop on the mouth, all he did was cringe. Raihan didn’t want this to be miserable for him, but he also just wanted Hop to know everything was _okay_.

Kissing was okay. Hugging was okay. Sex was okay.

It wasn’t like Raihan was going out of his way to hurt him, to hold him down kicking and screaming while he had his way with him. Raihan wanted Hop to get something out of this relationship too.

After all—

Raihan’s face gushed heat as he continued pressing his mouth to Hop’s, the kid never kissing back, but sitting there and allowing it to happen.

After all, Hop was his boyfriend now. His lover. They’d been intimate so many times already, the fact he was sitting here letting Raihan kiss him without protest was an achievement in itself. Hop would have never done this the first week he was here. He would have never subjected himself to sitting in place like this, allowing Raihan to barrage his mouth with kiss after kiss, like he was starving for him, like he would go crazy if he didn’t get his daily dose of Hop.

He really was insane for Hop to have this much of an effect on him. Raihan knew it. He hated it. But he loved it too, more than anything.

When he finally finished, Raihan took a breath as he leaned back, licking his lips and enjoying the taste of Hop still lingering on his tongue. The kid never so much as moved a muscle, but now that Raihan was off him, he could see the red in his face had traveled all the way to his ears, and he was glaring off to the side with vehemence. Whether Hop was angry at him for wanting to make out with him for so long, or whether he was just embarrassed, Raihan didn’t know, but he looked so cute with such an expression on his face, he couldn’t help but chuckle and ruffle his hair, mussing it up.

Even when he unraveled his arm from around him, Raihan carefully picking his hand back up to intertwine their fingers back together, he smiled at Hop, feeling the warmth spread all the way down to his chest. He’d been a little embarrassed having poured his heart out to him like he had, but with the weight off his shoulders, Raihan felt lighter, happier, hoping maybe, just maybe, in the smallest sliver possible, that Hop understood him a bit better now.

Because this kid made him so happy, Raihan never knew being with someone he loved could ever feel this good. For Hop to insinuate he’d grow tired of him—he scoffed at the idea. He had _tried_ to grow tired of him, and it only fueled the fire, it only proved to be too much when he finally snapped, taking the opportunity to grab Hop when he’d been vulnerable, where Raihan could spike his drink and carry him back to the castle.

And Raihan felt as though he’d finally begun to live when he brought Hop here. If life only started once Hop was added to the equation, then all the more reason why the two of them should stay together.

Maybe one day, Hop would see that too.

Until then, “Do you want to go inside or stay out here a bit longer?” A gentle breeze had begun to blow, making the humidity a bit less miserable, and while Raihan wouldn’t have complained to get back to the air conditioning, it didn’t matter what Hop’s answer was, because he was happy just to spend time with him, no matter where they were.

Lifting his head from where he’d been staring down at his shorts, Hop locked his gaze over toward the railing, and opened his mouth. “I…I-I wanna stay.”

Raihan nodded, dipping down to give him a quick peck on the cheek. “Alright, baby. We’ll stay as long as you want to. Take your time.”

A hazy sort of quietness drifted over the area then, because it wasn’t _completely_ silent. The wind whistled in their ears, a few wispy clouds floated by in the sky, and the faintest, smallest sounds of the city life right below them could be heard, from the train tracks squealing as it came to a halt, to various industrial sounds from buildings and machinery at work.

It was all so faint, so quiet they couldn’t hear it while they’d been talking, but now that they sat there in silence, Raihan nestled against Hop while they sat together on the bench, the sounds could reach them so clearly.

And Raihan squeezed Hop’s hand one more time, enjoying his company, even when the small ambiance of the city reached them, and they long stopped talking. Just being with him made him so happy, made him want to wrap his arms around him and express his love to him over and over.

They stayed like that for a long, long time, just sitting there, listening to the sounds of the city, Hop having slumped in his seat somewhat, Raihan back to rubbing circles on his knuckles with his thumb, wanting to soak up everything, even the heat, because it didn’t matter anymore. Life may not have had much meaning before, but Raihan had found so much more purpose to life now that Hop had started living with him.

He loved him so much. So, _so **much**._

And maybe one day Hop would come to understand. Raihan didn’t deserve his love by any means, not after what he’d done to him, but if Hop were to ever even begin to understand how Raihan felt about him—

That would make him the happiest man alive. 


	12. Chapter 12

Battling Hop had been one of the most exhilarating moments of Raihan’s life. To be out there on the pitch with that kid, to see the fire in his eyes all the way across the field, how passionate he’d been, how determined he’d been to beat Raihan and earn his badge. And Raihan might have held back a little for Hop’s sake. 

Just a little. 

It was easy to follow after him once all the excitement had died down. Raihan knew he’d be coming to face off against him, right after his little not-girlfriend did. Hop was never far behind her wherever they went, but Raihan couldn't help but wish their battle could have been a bit more personal. As in—he wished he could have gotten a chance to talk with him before, instead of forcing himself to stand by the business aspect of it. In reality, Raihan wanted to ask him on a date, but lost his nerve at the last second. 

There was no way that kid would accept a proposal like that. Especially not since Raihan knew he’d been pining after Gloria (though he was barking up the wrong tree with that one). He didn’t really know what Hop’s type was, but could only fantasize about gathering the courage to pop the question. 

And instead, he followed after him once he’d given him his badge. Shaking hands with him was enough for Raihan to get hard right there on the field in front of the entire stadium, but he didn’t dare lose control of himself like that. The fact that throughout that entire fight, Hop’s attention had been on him and only him was enough to elate his mood for the rest of the evening. By the time the fight was done, twilight had settled over Hammerlocke, Gloria had already hitched a ride on the train to head to Wyndon, and Raihan followed close by while hanging in the shadows in case Hop caught sight of him. 

He talked on the phone with Gloria, asking where she was, and promised to meet her in Wyndon before it got too dark where the two of them would get a hotel together. Raihan knew then if he didn’t make his move now, he would probably never catch this kid alone ever again. Throughout his entire gym challenge, there were so rarely times when Hop was by himself, either tagging along by Gloria, or meeting up with his brother on the side, but never just by himself where Raihan could pretend he’d just  _ happened _ to be by to strike up a conversation. 

It was now or never. 

With the championship match being underway that next morning, Hammerlocke was bustling with people trying to catch trains, or taking Corviknight cabs in order to make it to Wyndon to catch all the excitement, so by the time Raihan had gotten out of the gym away from paparazzi and fans alike, he’d received the biggest stroke of luck ever to find Hop still wandering around the street before making his way into the nearby cafe. 

This was Raihan’s only chance—and he wasn’t about to squander it now. 

Tearing off after him, he tried to appear as nonchalant as possible when he opened the door to the cafe, finding it unsurprisingly empty, save for Hop off in the corner. Apparently the kid had ordered a coffee and was playing on his phone. Probably trying to avoid the crowds before he made it to the train station. Not that Raihan blamed him. Had this been under normal circumstances—or rather, had this been under Raihan’s fantasy circumstances, he and Hop would be dating, and after a passionate match in the gym, Raihan would be more than happy to give Hop a personal ride over to Wyndon to see him face off against other trainers in the semi finals. 

But, real life didn’t happen the way it did in Raihan’s fantasies. Nah. In real life, Hop barely acknowledged Raihan’s existence, let alone harbored any romantic feelings for him. 

He could still dream though. 

After ordering a coffee of his own (black or die), he tried to remain as casual as possible before plopping down in the seat opposite Hop, the kid apparently so engrossed in his phone, he didn’t even notice Raihan. He gave him a few seconds to come back to reality and when he finally noticed someone was sitting across from him, Hop drew himself away from his phone, eyes widening at the sight of Raihan who shot him a huge grin. 

“Hey, kid, good job out there. Hell of a match, wasn’t it?”

“Oh! Y-yeah, it was.” Seeing Hop fidget in his seat like he was nervous only made Raihan smile all the more. Hop was always bashful when people complimented him, as he was probably not used to it (Raihan resisted the urge to cringe at why), and his cheeks grew a soft shade of pink. It took every ounce of Raihan’s willpower not to reach across the table, grab him by his collar, yank him forward, and kiss him right on the mouth. That was just Raihan’s lust trying to spill out, but this moment had taken years in the making, and Raihan was about to lose his mind trying to contain his excitement. 

He had already decided the moment he caught Hop alone like this—he was going to make his move one way or another. With or without the kid’s consent, it didn’t matter in the end. Part of his brain was screaming at him if he just got this out of his system, took him back to the castle for a few hours and had some fun, he could safely transport him to Wyndon and be done with it forever. That was the plan, anyway. 

Sounded simple, but Raihan was prepared for roadblocks. 

He decided to start off as innocently as possible. “Say, you’ve never seen the inside of the castle, right? Just the stadium?” Raihan’s grin widened, and he could see Hop shying away from his stare, as though unsure what he was supposed to say to him, but for Raihan anyway, it only served to reiterate how fucking adorable he was. “I could take you inside and give you the grand tour. Bet you’ve never seen a real castle, huh?”

“Uh—n-no thanks. I gotta get to Wyndon. I just stopped for a snack.” 

Never once did Raihan stop grinning at him, placing his elbow on the table to rest his chin in his palm before he continued. “Aw, come on, kid, I ain’t gonna lock you in a dungeon or nothing. Just figured after a victory like that, you deserve a treat, and what better treat than seeing places in the castle nobody else will  _ ever _ see?”

Shaking his head, Hop clutched his phone tighter in his hands, appearing extremely uncomfortable, Raihan could tell in his body language alone. He didn’t think his proposal was  _ that _ bad, but Hop was a bit on the shy side, so from his perspective, Raihan was probably coming on a little too strong. 

Even so, Hop peered off to the side away from Raihan’s grin. “I appreciate it, but no thank you. I really have to get going. M-maybe another day…?” He’d phrased it like a question, and while Raihan’s heart fluttered at the prospect of Hop considering his offer for later, he knew it was an empty promise that would never come to fruition. 

Oh well. 

At least he tried. 

Raihan shrugged, leaning back in his chair before taking a sip of his coffee, grimacing for a moment at the bitter taste. “Alright, kiddo, I’ll stop pushing it. But, I still think you deserve a treat for beating me. That’s no easy task, you know?” His grin returned as he set his cup down on the coaster, eyeing Hop from across the table. “Is there anything in particular you’d like from here? An expensive drink, maybe?” 

Before Hop could shake his head no, Raihan pressed. 

“Come on, kid, anything! I’ll buy it for you. It’ll be a reward. Look how far you’ve made it—you deserve something special for that, don’t you think?” His wide grin softened somewhat into a genuine smile as he practically pleaded with Hop to let him do this. “Come on, Hop. It’d be my pleasure.”

At first, Raihan didn’t think Hop would take the bait, and he always had a third option up his sleeve in case this didn’t work. Raihan knew Hop would be coming to face him soon, and he didn’t scrimp out on carrying a few sedatives with him whenever he decided to follow him around—just in case. Just in case he happened to get lucky. Just in case he found the opportunity to catch Hop off guard, if talking and buttering him up didn’t work, Raihan was always prepared for a moment just like this, and he was  _ not  _ going to let Hop get away from him this time. 

Finally,  _ finally _ , Hop let out a sigh, closing his eyes as though he were very tired (and Raihan couldn’t blame him after the day he’d had), before giving a slow nod. “If...if you insist.” 

Raihan’s smile couldn’t have grown wider if it tried. “Great! What would you like?”

Hop shrugged, eyes trailing over to the menu before he scanned it real quick. “Umm...the white chocolate coffee looked kind of good…” 

“White chocolate it is.” This kid and his sugar—just like Leon. They really were related, but Raihan thought Hop’s affinity for sugar was cute, and he couldn’t hide his smile as he pushed his chair back, scraping it against the wooden floor, before making his way up to the counter. 

It shouldn’t have been this easy. 

It was almost  _ too _ easy, and Raihan half-expected someone to drop out of the sky, nab him by the shoulder, and stop him from doing this, or at least have the barista give him a weird look when he walked over to the little corner to add extra sugar and get Hop a straw. Neither of them paid him any mind. The barista had turned his back on Raihan, busying himself with washing dishes and the like, while Hop’s attention was glued back to his phone. It was insane how this opportunity had been given to Raihan on a silver—no, a golden platter more like it. 

All it took was one move. One tiny, insignificant move of Raihan when he pulled the sedative from his pocket. He had several with him, all hidden in various pockets of his outfit. Some were in needles, others in pills, and others, like the one he was currently fishing out, were a powder. Without anyone being the wiser, Raihan nabbed a small dose of the powder from the little bag it was in, enough he knew would knock Hop out, but not keep him knocked out. Raihan wanted him to wake up in a little while. The plan wasn’t to knock him unconscious for the whole night, and it was awkward trying to pretend like he wasn’t spiking Hop’s drink with a foreign substance that resembled powdered sugar, just so long as nobody saw the conspicuous bag he was handling. 

A quick glance around as he worked. The barista still had his back turned, Hop was still absorbed in whatever he was doing on his phone. Raihan was in the clear. 

This was  _ too  _ easy. Raihan was shocked at how easy it was. 

Within the span of about only a minute tops, Raihan had drizzled enough powder into Hop’s coffee, loading it up with sugar in case the taste was detectable. Piers had given him this shit for nights when Raihan felt like getting fucked up, and he was no stranger to experimenting with stuff he wasn’t supposed to. According to Piers, this was supposed to be tasteless, but Raihan wasn’t about to test the theory, and put at least three spoons of sugar in Hop’s drink. Maybe he wouldn’t think it suspicious if he added additional sugar, because Hop loved his sweets after all. He might appreciate it. 

Once it was all said and done, Raihan hid the sedative back in his pocket, turned around (glancing quickly to make sure nobody was looking), and seated himself back at the table with Hop. With a friendly smile, he offered him the coffee, to which Hop finally tore himself away from his phone to take, and received a very shy ‘thanks’, before Hop took a sip of it. 

Raihan watched as his eyes lit up, Hop apparently very surprised by the sweetness, but looking pleased as well. “W-wow! It’s so good!” A small smile formed on his face before he started drinking it down like he couldn’t get enough of it. 

This was all Raihan could have ever asked for. A genuine, happy smile from Hop. His own mouth curled upward subconsciously at the sight of Hop so taken with the drink he’d bought him. It was one of the more expensive ones, as Raihan spared no expense when it came to Hop. He wanted him to enjoy himself, and the sight before him of Hop all too eagerly diving into the drink was enough to send his heart soaring. 

If a little sweet coffee was all it took to break down that wall Hop had around himself when he was with Raihan, he would have done this years ago. 

“I’m happy you like it, Hop. Congratulations on beating me.” 

Hop didn’t appear to hear him as he continued ravaging his beverage, as though having completely tuned the rest of the world out. 

The two of them sat there for a good few extra minutes, maybe fifteen minutes total as Raihan attempted conversation again, actually getting Hop to speak to him, but the kid just seemed so stiff and uncomfortable. Raihan couldn’t figure out if he was just shy or if it was because it was Raihan. Hop never acted this shy when he was running around the place—Raihan had seen him engage with other gym leaders like they were old friends, and even around complete strangers, Hop was friendly and inviting. 

Maybe he was intimidated by him, though Raihan couldn't exactly blame him if he was. He’d probably seen his brother face off against him so many times on the telly, maybe Hop was projecting and saw Raihan as his enemy of sorts, or a rival at least, in a sense. He hadn’t really gotten a chance to spend much time with him over the years since he’d taken on being a gym leader himself, he was always busy, and Hop was growing up right before his eyes. 

Oh well. 

It didn’t matter much anymore, because after tonight, Raihan could put this entire thing behind him, move on, and hopefully rid himself of the obsessive thoughts swarming him every waking moment of his life, and even his dreams sometimes. 

The lull of the cafe eventually set in, until the sun was very obviously setting outside, and Hop drew himself up from the table, swinging his bag around his shoulder before pocketing his phone. “It’s late. Hopefully the station isn’t so packed.” Giving Raihan a small wave, along with an even smaller smile, Hop disposed of his paper cup before attempting to head out the door, but Raihan was right on his tail. 

“So soon? How about another coffee?”

“Um—no, that’s okay, thanks. If I drink too much caffeine, I’ll be up all night.” Hop brushed him off, hand on the handle of the front door, but Raihan was right on his heels. 

Too much caffeine,  _ his asshole _ . He’d seen this kid chug bottles and bottles of soda in one sitting and still pass out at a reasonable time for bed. But, rather than argue, Raihan shrugged, following Hop out the door as he quickened his pace toward the station. “Let me at least see you off, kid. It’s not often trainers make it to me, you know. I just wanted this to be a special occasion for you.”

“That’s...nice of you.” Though Hop said that with way more reservation than he probably realized, Raihan couldn’t not notice the tone of his voice. To see Hop be so warm and open to others, he couldn’t help feeling a bit put off the kid wasn’t showing the same display for him. He was downright cold to him, though Raihan tried his best to chalk it up to the fact he was his brother’s rival, he still had a weird doubt that that was the sole reason for Hop’s standoffishness. 

Oh well. He could worry about that later. 

They’d made it about halfway down the street, Hop having broken out into a leisurely stroll at best, but suddenly stumbled over his feet. Before he could trip over himself, Raihan reached out to nab his arm, keeping him steady. “Whoa there, kiddo! There’s a few stray cracks and holes in the sidewalk. Don’t want you breaking anything, do we?”

As he righted himself back up, Hop shook his head as though that would help him regain his balance before he actually tipped, falling right over onto Raihan who didn’t expect it and let out a cry of surprise when Hop landed right on him. 

“Hop?! Easy, don’t push yourself.” That sedative took a lot longer to hit him than he thought, but better late than never. Raihan was already thinking of an excuse to get Hop to miss the train should it come to that, but he might not have to after all. Luck was with him tonight, as Hop only mumbled something against him, trying to push himself away from Raihan, but having no success. 

All he’d managed to say was a very slurred, “S-sorryyyyy...I’m...sleepy…” 

Raihan nodded, smiling. He took a second to peer around, noting how there weren’t many onlookers left hanging around Hammerlocke, as most people had caught the train to Wyndon, but he gingerly led Hop off the main sidewalk, being as inconspicuous as possible when he sneaked him down a nearby alleyway. “There, there, kid, don’t push yourself. Just relax.” 

By that point, Hop had stopped responding, the drug hitting him harder than Raihan anticipated, but this wasn’t a bad thing by any means. Raihan leaned up, when Hop looked ready to fall over right then and there on the ground, he used one arm to keep the kid steady while he fumbled to get himself out of his hoodie. Gently, he wrapped it around Hop, who seemed totally out of it by this point, not even reacting when Raihan bundled him up in it, scooping him in his arms bridal style, before making sure nobody happened to be around to see him. 

Now that the sun had set, Raihan had the advantage of the darkness covering him, and with most people leaving Hammerlocke deserted for the better, it was easy—it was so fucking easy to just steal Hop away under everyone’s noses. Raihan’s heart was pounding, not believing how perfectly everything had fallen into place for this moment. 

It had taken him years. 

_ Years _ . 

For him to get a chance like this, and dammit—Raihan was  _ not _ going to waste it for a single thing. Not one damn thing. 

With Hop haven fallen completely unconscious in his arms, Raihan kept to the shadows, hiding behind buildings when necessary, before sneaking the both of them into one of the castle’s secret entrances only Raihan was privy to. 

Just one night. That’s all Raihan wanted with him. One night to indulge in his fantasies, to make Hop his, and only  _ his, for one night _ . He’d give him back in the morning, but until then—

Until then, Raihan would take his time, be gentle with him, he’d do everything right until this kid was moaning around him, begging for more. And Raihan would be all too happy to give it to him. 

* * *

They’d spent about an hour and a half sitting outside before Raihan inevitably ushered Hop back in. Normally he would have been happy to let the kid get some air, even some exercise, but the heat was too much for him and by that point, Raihan was sweating his nuts off. Hop didn’t protest when he suggested going back inside, and the kid even seemed somewhat grateful for the air conditioner, as he had started sweating too, but apparently was braving the heat in favor of getting out a little. 

It was sad that getting out for Hop was only letting him see the city from a distance, and while the view was pretty amazing if Raihan said so himself, it didn’t compare to experiencing that scenery in person and being in the moment. All Raihan could offer Hop now was a view, and nothing more. 

Once they were back inside, Raihan immediately made a beeline for his bathroom, showering off all the sweat and grime. It wasn’t very sexy if he tried to make moves on Hop while being sweaty, but long before they even came back inside, he had made up his mind then and there to gently coax Hop into sleeping with him again. In a way, he was horny, yes, he’d absolutely kept his sexual impulses to himself, but it had been plenty of time for Hop to heal from the last time they had sex, and Raihan was raring to go again. If he wanted Hop to get used to him, maybe down the road he wouldn’t have to wait so long, but he didn’t want to accidentally hurt him. He knew the kid wasn’t made of glass, and even if he did get rough, Hop was resilient, but it wasn’t in Raihan’s interest to make it  _ awful _ for him. 

He wanted Hop to enjoy himself, and most of all—he wanted Hop to  _ want _ it. He wanted Hop to realize Raihan’s feelings were genuine, he wanted Hop to beg him to let him stay here, throw himself at him, and beg Raihan to fuck him because Raihan and  _ only Raihan _ could make him feel that good. 

That was a fantasy if anything, and one Raihan thought of often. It was a nice thought at least, but facing reality now, he knew it would be a long road ahead before Hop even began to whittle down to that level. But Raihan had all the time in the world to allow Hop to grow comfortable with him. 

After a nice long shower, Raihan emerged from his room, hearing the distinct sounds of the telly going off from the living room. Sure enough, one quick peek from the doorway showed Hop all curled up on the couch, and from the look of things, he had just showered as well. Even from where he stood, Raihan could tell his hair was damp, the soft scent of whipped cream lingering in the air. Hop didn’t acknowledge him when he made his presence known, but that didn’t stop Raihan from plopping down in the seat next to him. All Hop did was inch away, seeming more out of the need to accommodate Raihan’s extra space than to put distance between them. 

He tried to play it cool. “Whatcha watching?” From the looks of it, cartoons, anybody could see that, but Raihan just wanted to hear Hop’s voice more than anything. 

He was given a mere shrug, Hop having propped his elbow on the armrest where he placed his cheek in his palm, but otherwise showing no interest in speaking to Raihan. That was fine with him (not really). After all he’d put the poor kid through today, he didn’t necessarily mind if he wanted to keep to himself.

And he didn’t know  _ why on earth _ this slipped out, but before Raihan could stop himself, his damn mouth was flapping. “Hey, kid, lemme ask you something.” 

No acknowledgment from Hop, but that was fine. 

Raihan continued. “Hypothetically speaking, if I had asked you out before, what would you have said?” 

It was a simple yes or no question, and Hop tensed up either out of reflex, or nerves, but Raihan still received no response from him. He didn’t even toss the decency of looking at him before he was glued to the tv, adamant about keeping his mouth shut. 

Raihan shrugged. “Just figured I’d ask. Not that it’ll change anything now, but I’m curious what you thought of me before all this.”

“I  _ didn’t  _ think of you.” 

The sound of Hop’s comment cut through the air like a knife, stopping Raihan dead in his tracks. The amount of spite he’d spat that out with was enough for Raihan to freeze for a few moments, but he fought to keep his composure. Trying not to let Hop know he’d struck a bit of a nerve, he just grinned. “Really? You didn’t think of me at all? I find that kind of hard to believe, kid. There’s gotta be something about me you like.”

“I’d like you if you shut the hell up for once.”

Seeing Hop with more bite to him put Raihan at ease a little. Whether or not the kid was aware of it, he was incredibly easy to tease when he got like this, so Raihan shrugged, not able to help himself. “Afraid I can’t do that, babe, but let me toss another question at you.”

Gaze still focused on the telly, though not really watching it, Hop tensed again as though dreading what Raihan was about to ask. 

“Kid, if you hate me so bad, why don’t I do you a solid for once?” He pointed at his face, trying to gain any sort of reaction from Hop, but the kid was being stubborn. “Sock me in the face if you want. I don’t care.” He knew he was probably taking his teasing too far, but Hop had shown he wasn’t above slapping the shit out of Raihan during the heat of the moment. Raihan was inviting it, wondering if Hop would allow himself to let loose for a little bit and beat the shit out of him if he wanted. 

Raihan would  _ fucking love it  _ if Hop were slap him around some. 

Instead, Hop scoffed and rolled his eyes. “You’re so fucking weird, do you know that?”

“I’m telling you, babe, if it’ll make you feel better, have at it. Punch me in the face. Kick my balls in if you want. I don’t mind. I know you hate me so it’s only fair if you wanna let out some of that pent up anger.”

Hop finally whipped around to glare straight at him, knees bunching up to his chin as though fighting to remain as small as possible. “ _ I don’t  _ hate you, Raihan.”

Wait what. 

_ What? _

Raihan blinked, not sure he heard that right. “What?” 

Rather than expound on that one, Hop just scooted himself further into the corner of the couch, still glaring. “Just leave me alone. I’d like you better if you did. In fact—” And he said it with so much spite and sarcasm, Raihan knew he was only trying to strike a nerve in him. “I’d  _ love you  _ if you let me go.”

Did he hear that right? Hop just said he didn’t hate him. Hell—Raihan had spent weeks up to this point convinced that the kid held a fuckton of animosity toward him, but just chose not to express it, or rather, expressed it in his snarky attitude. But he just said he didn’t hate him. Raihan couldn't seem to focus on anything else in that moment, not even what Hop said about letting him go. Before he could stop himself, Raihan reached out, Hop seizing up at the move when he cupped his cheek in his palm. The kid’s face was hot, and he all but froze when Raihan titled his face up ever-so-slightly to stare into his eyes. 

“What did you just say?”

Hop’s lips thinned, but he swatted Raihan’s hand away before arching his brow. “I said I’d love it if—”

“No, no, before that.” His heart thumped in his chest, until the back of Raihan’s neck broke out with sweat, but not from nerves. From excitement. “You just said you didn’t hate me. That’s what you said. What do you mean by that?” Maybe he was pushing this issue way too much, but there was no way Raihan could ignore what Hop had just up and admitted to him, as though it were one of the most natural things for him to say. 

Hop only glared, but didn’t say a damn word. As though a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar, he merely gave Raihan a final glare before turning his attention back to the television, ignoring him. But—Raihan wasn’t going to let him get away with that anymore. He could let a lot of Hop’s attitude slide by for the most part, because it was funny as hell for him to tease him until he got angry. Instead, he reached over, not giving Hop a chance to make an escape before he had his arm wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him close until he was practically in his lap. Before Hop could begin protesting and pushing away, Raihan nabbed his chin, lifted his face, and smiled at him before pressing a kiss to his mouth. With a firm push against his chest, Hop sputtered, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. 

“Stop that!”

“Aw, Hop, you don’t have to be so shy. Figured you’d be used to this by now.” As he spoke, Raihan trailed his palm up the hem of Hop’s shirt, gaining a sharp gasp from him when he exposed the bottom of his stomach. “We haven’t slept together for a good while now. That’s a crime, don’t you think?”

When Raihan had effectively raised his shirt above his nipples, exposing them to the colder apartment air until they hardened, he couldn’t help himself from gripping the back of Hop’s head and holding him still as he kissed him again. It’d felt like years he had tiptoed around Hop, not wanting to upset him, or freak him out by coming onto him, but Raihan was  _ starving _ , and he’d done all he could to hold back up until now. It wasn’t like he was going to hurt the kid, but he was sick of jacking off every night to lackluster orgasms when the best thing ever in the world was waiting for him right here. 

Raihan had been doing good. Now it was time to indulge, and he’d make sure Hop enjoyed every last second of it. 

Just as he leaned in to kiss Hop’s neck, sucking a sensitive spot on his throat, the kid gave a harsh shiver that Raihan could  _ feel _ after having him right up against him. “Wait—”

Raihan only sucked harder, ignoring him, though he did notice how Hop had cringed in his arms, he could feel him shivering slightly. That could have been attributed to the colder air, or maybe Hop was nervous. Not that Raihan blamed him. The last time he’d fucked him, he wasn’t exactly nice about it. Nor was he nice the first time. Raihan had toyed and teased this kid way too much in the past, but he wasn’t all that interested in doing that so much now. 

After all, Hop was his boyfriend, and he made it perfectly clear that there was no leaving the castle for him. The least Raihan could do was show him that sex could not only be tender, but feel good at the same time. Raihan could stand to be a little more gentler and kind. 

He only laughed through his nose before pulling away from Hop’s neck, an obvious red spot forming from where he’d sucked. There would be another barrage of hickies there come tomorrow, but Hop looked so gorgeous with those marks around his neck. “Don’t worry, baby. I ain’t gonna make you do anything. It won’t be like last time.” He kissed his throat, even as Hop gave a violent shiver. “We’re going to do this right. I’ll be nice and gentle with you. I’m not going to make you do anything like last time. You just sit there and enjoy yourself and let me do the work.” 

With his palms against his chest, Hop gave a rather weak shove against him, but not enough to push Raihan away and really—he knew deep down he could force it. And while that wasn’t on Raihan’s agenda tonight, if push came to shove, he might have to use a little force to make Hop comply. He’d much rather the kid just enjoy himself for once though. 

“I-I don't want to do this.” 

Raihan nodded, though didn’t hesitate to apply a slew of softer kisses against Hop’s neck, all the way down to his shoulders. He wanted to suck his nipples so bad. They were perfectly hard thanks to being exposed to the cooler air, and Raihan had to fight to hold back. If his goal was to be tender and kind, he didn’t want to scare Hop by doing anything too crazy. 

But, in response to Hop’s concerns. “It’s okay, kid. You just lie there, relax, and let me take care of everything. I won’t do anything scary. I won’t fuck you dry. I want you to enjoy yourself, Hop, so I’m going to take my time with you, alright?” 

He could feel the slightest movement of Hop’s limbs stiffening before he gasped as Raihan sucked at his neck again, barely brushing the edge of his teeth on him, and Hop flinched. “I-I have to go to the bathroom.” 

It was a moment too soon that Raihan pulled back, straightening himself on the couch as he gripped Hop by his arms. This sounded like an excuse for Hop to get out of this, but then Raihan thought the same thing last time, ending with a mess for the both of them. No, he didn’t believe Hop actually had to go, but to spare the kid any more shame he might have still been dealing with after last time, Raihan sighed, relenting, and set Hop back down on the couch. 

“Alright, kid.” It’d give him an excuse to get things ready, to be honest. He wanted to do this right, and his bedroom was where all his lubricant and whatnot was. It’d probably be easier on the kid to be fucked in Raihan’s room than his own bedroom. He could make things comfortable for him in the meantime. 

Without wasting another second, now given the okay, Hop sprang up from his seat, not looking back before he tore out of the living room, Raihan able to hear his rapid footsteps before he shut himself up in his bathroom. Damn, maybe he really did have to go. Raihan almost wanted to laugh, but stood from the couch as well, popping a few bones in his back for good measure. Afterward, he exited into the hallway, passing by Goodra who had been hanging around, obviously curious what the excitement was about, and Raihan gave her a hearty pat on the head before disappearing into his room. 

It was evening time, so the nice, warm glow of twilight cast orange light from the windows. Raihan would have preferred doing this after dark, as he was used to yanking one out right before bed, but he wanted Hop to have fun before he cooked some dinner for him. There was still the instant curry box sitting unused on the table, and he wanted the excuse to cook with Hop and spoil him with sweets before the day ended. 

Before that though, Raihan set to work straightening up his room. There was no romantic candlelight or soft music playing or any of that, but he preferred the silence to having any music playing. It would help him hear Hop’s moans all the more. And he couldn’t wait to hear that kid moan around his cock again. It’d been too long, way too long since Raihan had heard his gasps of pleasure—Hop was so noisy, it was adorable, not just sexy. 

Damn, just thinking about it was getting him excited, but he had to calm himself. Didn’t want to be getting hard before he and Hop had started. 

About twenty minutes came and went as Raihan fussed over his room. His lube was out, ready to go, his blankets were fresh, he had a few fluffy pillows propped up on the bed, all for Hop’s comfort, and he was  _ ready _ , so ready to feel Hop around him one more time. Speaking of Hop, for someone who had to pee, he sure was taking his sweet time in the bathroom. Raihan wanted to think maybe he was freshening up for him, like primping his hair or something, but he had his doubts Hop was completely truthful with his ‘emergency’.

Sighing, mostly to prepare himself for what would no doubt be another argument, while Raihan loved teasing the kid, he was way too horny to bother with that now, and he tore out of his room, right down the hall to Hop’s bedroom. The bathroom light was visible from the cracks, and Raihan didn’t bother knocking before he grabbed the handle, not surprised to find it locked. 

“Babe?” He kept his tone gentle and soothing so as not to startle Hop and give him the impression he was angry at him. “You alright? You been in there for a while.”

No response from Hop’s end, but Raihan wasn’t about to falter. The kid had no way out in that bathroom and he knew it. If push came to shove, Raihan could take the damn thing off its hinges, or pull the knob out. That was only a temporary sanctuary for Hop, if he was trying to hide. 

“Come on, Hop, you ain’t scared, are you?” Well, Raihan knew he was, though he tried his best to diminish Hop’s worries. “There’s nothing to be scared of, baby. I know I teased you too much last time, but I’m not gonna do that anymore. This time, we’ll take things niiiiice and easy, and afterward, I’ve got some cake and stuff for you. Doesn't that sound nice?”

There was a small shuffle from inside the bathroom, and one quick glance down toward the crack showed Hop’s shadow moving from inside. No reply, though. 

Raihan’s grip on the door handle tightened. “Hop, hurry up and open the door. I promise you, kid, I won’t do nothing bad to you. I just want to make you feel good for a while. That’s not scary, right?” 

No reply. 

“Hop, I swear I’m not going to trick you into doing anything weird.” He rested his forehead against the door, giving the handle another jiggle. “It’s going to be alright, kid. I know it’s scary to you now, but give it time, and you’ll understand that this isn’t something bad. I’d never hurt you, kid, not if I could help it. I’d kill myself before I ever intentionally hurt you. I promise I’ll be slow and gentle. If you let me prepare you and do what I need to do, it won’t be painful.”

No reply. 

At this point, Raihan’s patience was starting to wear thin. It wasn’t necessarily Hop’s silent treatment that was the cause, but the fact he was already sexually starved, and being teased like this was only intensifying that feeling. If he didn’t do this soon, he might wind up being rough with him, and that was the last thing Raihan wanted to do. If he was determined to do this right, then that meant he had to bite down his urges, though in Raihan’s case, that was an incredible feat to pull off. When it came to Hop though, he was willing to do anything. 

And after all, they both knew if he really wanted to, Raihan could break the door down, take Hop by force. If he really wanted to. Hop knew he was doomed from the start, and Raihan closed his eyes, taking a small breath before letting it back out. “Come on, kid.” He jiggled the handle. “Open the door.”

To his absolute surprise, Hop complied. Either out of obedience, or the lack of any will to fight him on it, Raihan didn’t know, but stood back with a jump when the lock clicked before Hop slowly pulled the door open. Raihan was already grinning, waiting for the moment he would tease him for giving in, or something about how he was probably excited now that Raihan had done a good job of talking it up—but he was thrown off guard, the grin melting off his face in an instant when he noticed Hop’s bloodshot eyes. 

Had...he been crying this entire time?

From the looks of it, Hop had cried so hard that he had to take his contacts out (he’d been wearing them more often despite how Raihan told him he was much cuter in glasses), as Raihan could see the case and solution over the bathroom sink, along with Hop’s glasses folded neatly next to the faucet, but when he opened the door, Hop quickly wiped his face before putting his glasses on. Was the entire bathroom thing an excuse for Hop to come in here and cry? Raihan hadn’t heard a peep out of him since, but seeing this now, Hop unable to hide how swollen his eyes were, and Raihan felt his chest tighten at the sight alone. The kid looked absolutely fucking miserable—and it was all because Raihan wanted to fuck. That attitude from before was completely washed away, giving rise to Hop’s true feelings, and before Raihan could stop himself, he reached out, dabbing the pad of his thumb against Hop’s cheeks to smear away the remnants of a tear streak from not long ago. 

“Kid—” He bit his lip, unsure what to say. “Why are you crying?”

Hop didn’t even attempt to bat his hand away, but merely turned his eyes south to stare down at the floor. He stayed silent for a long time, long enough Raihan thought he might not answer, until Raihan cupped his cheek, leaned in, and gave a fleeting kiss to his mouth. It sparked some life back into Hop who merely gave a grunt of disapproval, before pushing away from him. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse, as though he’d spent hours screaming. “I-I don’t want to sleep with you.” His hands clenched into fists. “I’m...I’m scared…” 

“There’s nothing to be scared of, baby.” Trying his best to ease Hop’s fears, Raihan ran his fingers through his hair, only gaining a rather violent flinch from Hop when he did so, but the kid didn’t bother trying to pull away. “I’m going to take good care of you, I promise.”

“Raihan,  _ please _ .” It was then that Hop finally reared his head up, eyes bearing right into Raihan’s with a pleading expression, as though begging him with his eyes alone. “Please— _ please _ don’t make me sleep with you again.”

Raihan’s chest only grew tighter, as Hop had no idea the things he did to him when he made a face like that. His cock twitched at the sight alone, and he had to physically swallow in order to calm himself down. “What’s so bad about it? Tell me why you don’t want to sleep with me, and I’ll do my best to accommodate you.”

“I don’t  _ like _ you.” 

To that, Raihan replied with a shrug. “Is that all? Tons of people sleep with people they hate. I mean—you ain’t the first person I’ve had hate sex with, if that’s what you want to call it.” This wasn’t going the way Raihan planned, and he was only getting hungrier the longer they stood there having this conversation, but he didn’t want to outright force it on Hop if he could help it. But—if the kid left him with no choice, Raihan wasn’t above getting a little rough with him. No, he’d never hurt the poor kid, but he might give him something to calm him down. A little sedative went a long way, and then he wouldn’t have to worry about being lucid during sex, even though Raihan wanted him to be sober when they did it, if it came to that, then that’s what it came to. 

“I’m…” Hop bit his bottom lip, looking so fucking cute when he did that Raihan had to resist reaching down and stroking his own dick to it. Holy fuck—Hop had so much power over him and he didn’t even  _ realize _ . “I’m uncomfortable...I’ve never done anything like this with anyone.” His cheeks gushed red then, almost sending Raihan over the edge. “I’m not used to it—it feels—weird, and  _ it scares me. _ ”

“Kid, there ain’t nothing to be afraid of. I told you time and time again I wasn’t interested in hurting you. I’m not going to dispose of you—I’m not going to do anything like that.” He was trying so hard to remain calm and not jump Hop right now. Holy fuck, was it hard to hold back. Every single one of Raihan’s instincts were screaming at him to grab the kid, hold him down, and fuck him raw, bite into his neck until he tasted blood, gag him where Hop could only speak with muffled protests, chain him to the bed until his wrists were rubbed raw, where Raihan would kiss the bruises, where he would fuck Hop until he was screaming for it. 

Until he was screaming for  _ Raihan.  _

Rather than argue, Hop merely sighed. “There has to be something else you want from me.” And he cringed, Raihan noticing when he squeezed the fabric of his shirt in his hands until it wrinkled. Shit, was it cute. “What if…” He bit his lip, cheeks growing red. “If I...if I blow you, will you leave it at that…?” 

And Raihan threw his head back, letting out a laugh loud enough to scare the hell out of Hop who jumped, not expecting it, but Raihan couldn’t help it. There were tears in his eyes, and he only laughed harder at the completely baffled look Hop gave him. “Holy fuck, kid, you are  _ too cute.  _ That’s nice of you to offer, and while there’s nothing more I’d love than to see your pretty little mouth wrapped around me, I ain’t about it.” He finally calmed down, wiping the small streaks that leaked from his eyes before catching his breath. “I doubt it could even fit, if I’m honest.”

Hop noticeably cringed.

Raihan waved him off. “Maybe one day, babe. If you  _ really, really  _ want me that bad, I’ll let you do it, but we’re going to fuck tonight one way or another. Now I wanna be gentle with you and take my time, I really do.” His tone shifted, voice growing low as Raihan turned serious. “However, we both know fighting is pointless. If you wanna complain about it, have at it. Wear yourself out, kid, I don’t care.” His smile drew downward into a half-frown, as he let Hop know he damn well  _ meant _ what he said. “But I’ve got ways of keeping you still. I could always tie you up, tape your mouth shut, and kid—” Leaning down, Raihan squatted to the floor until he was face level with him, until Hop had nowhere else to look but Raihan’s eyes. “I got  _ all _ kinds of pills ‘n shit. Not just pills, but loads of stuff that’ll keep you nice and calm. You want me to fuck you up? I can fuck you up real good. I’ll have you where you won’t even remember me fucking you the next day, you won’t remember a thing. I could do  _ anything  _ to you and you’d never know it.”

Hop had all but frozen, not moving an inch, his knuckles paling as he gripped hold of his shirt even tighter, but he didn’t dare move a muscle. He didn’t dare talk back to Raihan. 

If he was honest, Raihan was only partially truthful with all this talk. If he knew one thing, then it was that Hop was easy to scare and coerce into something. All the kid needed was a push in the right direction and Raihan could get him to do anything, even agree to sex. While it wasn’t his favorite thing in the world to do, it was necessary if he wanted some cooperation from the kid. Raihan really did want to teach him this wasn’t scary, but sometimes it wasn’t enough to be nice to him. 

It was a little fun scaring him, Raihan couldn’t lie. He’d never act on half the shit he said, but something about the way Hop sucked in shaky breaths, his beautiful eyes wide with fear, the way he looked so small and helpless—

God, it turned Raihan on. 

As though too afraid to speak, Hop’s lip quivered before he finally, after a long bout of uncomfortable silence between the two, spoke. “P-p-please...Raihan….” His voice was shaking so badly that Raihan swore he could hear his teeth knocking together too. But his eyes were still pleading, still bloodshot from crying, Raihan could see that much even behind the lenses of his glasses. “I-I don’t want that.” He wrung his hands in and out, his palms starting to quiver. Raihan knew he’d scared him to death, and he hated it for the kid, he really did, but he let out a long, drawn out sigh.

“Hop, if you’ll just listen to me and let me do what I have to, I won’t do any of those things.” He then reached out, taking one of Hop’s trembling hands in his own and gave him a reassuring squeeze. “I just want you to enjoy yourself, baby. It’ll be fun if you let it. This isn’t a bad thing.”

Hop said nothing, but Raihan could see the start of tears welling in his eyes before he blinked them away, and he gave him another squeeze to his hand. 

“Hop. Here.” Reaching over, Raihan took Hop’s other hand in his, holding him by both his palms before he brought them up to his own neck. With a bit of ease considering Hop wasn’t resisting, Raihan managed to spread his fingers out around his neck, guiding him the whole way until Hop had both hands wrapped around his throat. 

Raihan smiled at him, clutching onto his wrists in case Hop pulled away. “If it’ll make you feel better, you can hurt me. Punish me. Take all your anguish out, get pissed off, kid, do whatever you gotta do.” He gripped his wrist to try and egg him on. “Choke me, Hop. Choke me until I’m blue. Until you get it out of your system. Choke me until my face is blue and I’m lying on the floor gagging for air. Choke me until my eyes roll to the back of my head and I become a pathetic mess writhing around underneath you.” He could feel Hop’s fingers tighten against his neck, just ever so slightly. His fucking hands were so small, they wouldn’t even fit around the girth of his throat. 

That drove him  _ wild.  _

He continued. “Don’t you think I deserve it? You can be angry at me, I know you are. You can hate me and beat me if it’ll please you.” Fuck, would that be delightful. “Whatever you need, kid. Whatever you think I deserve, let me have it.” 

For a moment, for one euphoric moment, Raihan thought Hop would do it. The fingers he’d had wrapped around his neck pressed down, until Raihan felt his nails digging into his skin. He almost moaned in pleasure at the idea Hop might choke him, he might let loose for once and hit him, slap him, kick him, it didn’t matter. Raihan wanted it all. The throngs of ecstasy went straight to his cock when Hop pushed against his neck, squeezing just for a moment, and Raihan dared allow a soft moan to escape, about to lose himself in the haze. 

But, with a horrified gasp, just as quickly as he’d done so, Hop released him, snatching his hands out of Raihan’s grip before hugging into himself like he’d touched fire, and he whimpered. “I-I can’t…” His voice was quiet, as though afraid someone other than Raihan would hear. “I don’t want to…” 

He should have known. Raihan couldn’t help to let out a disappointed sigh, having wanted Hop to strangle the shit out of him, but he knew. This kid was too good for something as deprived as that. Hop really was a sweet kid, even if his attitude came out when faced with danger, this was the real Hop in front of him, and the real Hop was a small, scared little boy. A boy who wasn’t used to the things Raihan wanted to do with him, but he put him through it anyway. Hop would never deliberately choke him, even if he was given the chance. 

Shit...Hop was too good for Raihan. He knew that. 

Still, he nodded, a soft smile forming despite his disappointment, and instead of pushing the matter, he stood from his position on the floor, standing to his full height before he bent back over, looped both arms under Hop’s back and knees, and lifted him from the ground as though he weighed nothing. “You’re a sweet kid, Hop. I love you so much.” He pressed a kiss against his mouth, surprised that Hop didn’t push away. He merely flinched, but froze soon after. 

Raihan was determined to do this right, and he’d calmed down considerably, despite his excitement from before, just having Hop in his arms, able to feel every little tremble that he made, it somehow put Raihan at ease and he couldn’t help to gush at him. “It’ll be alright, baby. I won’t hurt you. Don’t be scared. This isn’t scary, and come on—we’ve slept together before, you know I’m going to use a lot of lube for you. It won’t hurt, I promise.”

Hop didn’t respond, not that Raihan expected him to, but with that said, he turned on his heels, carrying Hop out of his bedroom. The trek down the hall felt like a much longer journey than simply a few feet. Maybe it was because Hop’s breathing was turning ragged, the small, short breaths audible in the quiet of the apartment, but Raihan only gently shushed him, pulling him close and whispering soft reassurances to him. 

Anything to calm the kid down before they did this. After all of Raihan’s talk from earlier, he knew he’d scared the shit out of him, but he hoped further down the road, once Hop got used to this, once he showed him that sex was something that could be fun, that his baseless threats would no longer be necessary. As he carried him down the hall, Raihan applied kisses to his head, brushing his bangs out of the way to reach his forehead, and it was much easier to carry Hop one-handed than it should have been. Raihan wanted to spoil him rotten, feed him all his favorite foods so that the kid could start getting some meat on his bones, as he would love him no matter what he looked like, but he had to admit—Hop was scrawny, and if he could support him with one arm alone whilst carrying him, then Hop had to know that he was severely outmatched. 

They both knew that. Raihan’s threats may have been a tactic just to scare Hop into submission, but if he really wanted to—really,  _ really _ wanted to, he could follow through with anything. Raihan wasn’t just full of shit—as his threats were just used to talk Hop into whatever he wanted, he wasn’t averse to it if push came to shove. 

He could drug Hop. Chase him down, overpower him, force himself inside of him until Hop was crying. Raihan would find him if he ever tried to hide, if he ever dared try to escape, and Hop  _ had _ to know that. Raihan outweighed him in strength by a long shot, and no matter what Hop did, whether he refused Raihan or tried to fight him, the end result would be the exact same. 

Hop would wind up underneath him, moaning while Raihan pummeled him with his cock, while he made Hop feel incredible, made him feel things he had never experienced in his life before. With or without Hop’s approval, it was inevitable. Hop would learn to love this. And maybe—just maybe. 

Hop would come to love Raihan too. 

While those were certainly nice thoughts and everything, Raihan was snapped from his daydreams when he finally brought the both of them into his room. Hop hadn’t so much as budged while he carried him, and he supposed he could praise him for that. 

This wasn’t going to be like last time. Raihan wasn’t doing this to screw him over, to toy with him. He wanted to  _ love him.  _ And prove to Hop how  _ much _ he loved him. 

“You’re doing great, Hop.” He offered him a small smile before reaching the bed. The orange light of twilight was slowly fading away from the window, casting Raihan’s room with a dulled, darkened orange as the night sky started to peek through. His bedside lamp was the only source of light in the room, but it supplied plenty of light for what he needed to do. Leaning over his bed, he gently placed Hop near the top, lying him flat on his back with his head against one of the pillows. He’d made damn sure the kid was comfortable (even closing his door in case Goodra got curious), before he crawled over him, effectively straddling him. 

And did Hop look so  _ small  _ under him. The differences in their bodies was only accentuated with the way Raihan loomed over him. 

Hop didn’t dare move a muscle. 

“You’re so fucking gorgeous, kid. Never ever get tired of looking at you. Wish I could have your pretty face embalmed on my brain so it’s all I see.” Raihan was laying it on thick, but it was hard as hell to hold back on the cheesy compliments when it was Hop. He wished the kid knew how often he’d obsessed over him throughout the years. Even when Raihan had been in denial, Hop was always in the back of his mind, always lingering, never disappearing. 

Maybe it was love from the start, but Raihan didn’t care if it wasn’t. He knew now more than ever that the person he’d locked up here with him, the person he’d kidnapped and whisked away to the tower—he knew with every bit of his body that Hop was meant for him. He’d never loved anyone the way he loved this kid, and that was the only explanation for something so fucking crazy like this. 

It was love. It had to be. Raihan wouldn’t do things like this if he weren't in love. 

“Don’t be scared, kid. I won’t hurt you. You just lie there and relax, enjoy the feeling, and let me take good care of you.” Raihan’s prior lust was quelled somewhat by their conversation in the bathroom, and he was confident that he wouldn’t go crazy when he lifted Hop’s shirt a second time, exposing his bare chest to the cooler air of his bedroom. It may have been hot as fuck outside, but Raihan didn’t keep his apartment that cold (still gotta pay the bills), but the sight of Hop’s nipples hardening just from that alone was enough to make him gasp. “Hop, holy shit, you’re perfect, do you know that? You’re so perfect, baby.” 

All throughout this time, Hop hadn’t said a word, nor moved a muscle. His stare had trailed off at some point to focus on the ceiling, so that he wasn’t looking while Raihan marveled at his body, but he couldn’t blame him after what he’d said earlier. Part of Raihan felt guilty for scaring him stiff like this (literally), and he was almost compelled to tell Hop it was all bullshit, he’d never do something like that, but he risked Hop growing angry at him, which would result in a lot of resisting, which would just spiral downward until Raihan was holding him down and forcing it. 

If Hop was going to cooperate, even if it was out of fear, Raihan would take it. He could worry about making it up to him later, but for now, he bent over, allowing his hands to slide up Hop’s stomach, and when he extended his fingers, placing his palm right on Hop’s navel, Raihan’s entire hand almost completely blanketed Hop’s stomach alone. He was so— _ dainty _ . Raihan would never get over how much larger he was than Hop, in literally every single aspect. He wasn’t as buff as Leon, but Raihan had his height to make up for it. Their height difference was incredibly obvious when the two of them were standing together, as Hop only stood about as tall as his chest. If he were to stand right in front of him, Hop could plant his face against Raihan’s stomach. But to be straddling him, moving his hands across his stomach, allowing the pads of his fingers to brush against Hop’s nipples ever-so-slightly, Raihan was eager to fuck him. Hop didn’t even have to  _ do _ anything and he got him off. 

It was crazy how a single person had this much of an adverse effect on him—well no, that wasn’t what it was. Raihan didn’t hate that Hop could do this to him. He quite loved it, actually. Nobody else had the power like this to make him weak. 

“Beautiful…” Mostly mumbling to himself now, as Hop had all but grown completely still underneath him, Raihan let his tongue out, tasting the supple skin right below Hop’s belly button. His skin was soft, and had the slightest scent of whipped cream, a scent Raihan had become all too familiar with at this point, as it was associated with Hop. Every time he entered the supermarket and passed by the sweets, Raihan couldn’t help but be reminded of Hop each time. 

With his tongue out, Raihan licked up a trail from his stomach to Hop’s chest, still using his fingers to gently squeeze any kind of meat he could get his hands on. There wasn’t much to grab, but he tried not to squeeze too hard in case it caused Hop pain, but he wasn’t getting much of a reaction out of him anyway. Raihan understood why Hop wasn’t doing anything, and he couldn’t blame him in the least, though wished that the kid would at least moan or something to show he was into it. If Hop just acted the slightest bit slutty, this would be ten times more enjoyable for Raihan. 

But Hop acting shy drove him equally mad. 

Hell...Raihan really was fucked up. 

There was a small shiver below him when Raihan reached one of Hop’s nipples, nipping down on the bud as gently as he could. Hop flinched, but Raihan just squeezed the side of his hips in a gesture that he wouldn’t bite. “It’s okay, babe. Don’t gotta worry about me wrecking nothing on you. You’re too pretty for that. I just wanna play a bit. Been too long, you know?” And Raihan wasn’t a stranger to playing with his food before devouring it, after all. 

Still, Hop was being so good sitting for him here like this that it was easy for Raihan to lose himself in his own pleasure. He licked around Hop’s nipple, gaining shivers once in a while, and every little movement Hop made went straight to his cock. 

“You can moan, baby. Be as loud as you want.” He laughed through his nose, only tickling Hop further as he was no doubt incredibly sensitive right now. “I would love to hear how much you’re enjoying this. Don’t I make you feel good? This isn’t bad. I could do this for you everyday if you’d let me.” 

Hop made a strangled sort of gasp, but Raihan ignored it. If all he was doing was making sounds of bashfulness, then Raihan wasn’t too worried about hurting him. Maybe Hop was simply uncomfortable, which was what Raihan expected, so he didn’t bother stopping. If anything, it only served to iterate his point. 

“Whatever you want, baby, I’d do it all for you. Want me to suck your cock? I’ll suck it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. All day long, Hop. Whatever makes you happy.” 

When he moved to suck against Hop’s other nipple, the kid finally made a moaning sort of noise underneath him. It was one of the most beautiful sounds Raihan had heard him make all evening, and it only compelled him to keep going. Whether or not Hop was making those noises out of pleasure or discomfort was inconsequential, because Raihan wasn’t about to let up with his teasing. It was his favorite part—other than coming of course. 

“You like it? You can be honest with me.” With both of Hop’s nipples firmly erect, Raihan trailed his mouth to his favorite spot—Hop’s neck. It was such a vulnerable area, so sensitive and soft, and he wasted no time wrapping his mouth around him, hoping to suck as many hickies as possible tonight. Hop would be marked with Raihan’s love so much until they never faded away. A permanent reminder of who he belonged to. 

_ Fuck,  _ did he love this kid so much. All those times he spent pining for him when they were younger—he often wondered what would have happened had he simply spilled the beans to Hop. Told him his true feelings, and asked him out. But what if he waited until Hop was just a little bit older? More mature? Would he have rejected him if Raihan had just waited? 

There was no point dwelling on Raihan’s past actions, or lack thereof. What’s done was done. He had kidnapped this kid, plucked him straight out of his life, and was forcing him to live in the tower, where there honestly wasn’t much he had to do all day. Raihan wondered—wasn’t life boring here for Hop? Maybe that’s what they needed. A nice change of scenery. And while he pondered on it time and time before that simply leaving with Hop was impossible at the moment, there was still the fact that Raihan had opportunities in other regions to be champion. The only reason he hadn’t packed his bags and flew his happy ass out of Galar was because of his obsession with beating Leon. 

He didn’t just want to be seen as a worthy rival to Leon, dammit, he wanted to beat him and win. 

But lately, that goal had been rendered rather obsolete in favor of a better one. Raihan found he didn’t really give two damns if he ever beat Leon in a match for once, but looking down at his little brother, the way his neck glistened from Raihan’s kisses, the way red marks were already starting to ghost over the skin, Raihan just knowing they’d be bruised tomorrow—he smiled. Hop was worth more to him than beating Leon any day. This kid meant more to him than his life here by a long shot. And it was a fantasy of Raihan’s to whisk him away for good. Out of Galar. Away from anyone who knew them, and take him to Unova, or Alola, somewhere not here. Somewhere Raihan could finally become champion and support Hop the way he deserved to be supported. He could buy them a fancy manor maybe, or if Hop preferred something quaint, he could always buy them a cottage in the countryside. 

Just the two of them. And people would be none the wiser. Raihan could get away with keeping Hop secret. It might take some doing, but if he’d managed to get away with stealing Hop to the castle without anyone knowing, who was to say he couldn’t take Hop to another region without the same result? That way, they really would have all the time to themselves. He probably wouldn’t have to keep Hop locked up either, he might could let the kid get out and explore some, make some friends even, if that would make him happy. 

Just so long as he didn’t leave him. But—

Raihan sighed, leaning over to kiss Hop’s cheek. The kid didn’t move a goddamn inch. 

It was a wonderful thought, a glorious fantasy Raihan could only dream of, but it seemed so impossible. Then again, he had fantasized about stealing Hop and he’d already pulled that off. Who was to say Raihan couldn’t get them out of Galar? 

Maybe one day. It was something to think about. 

But for right now, he held Hop’s chin up, kissing him and feeling it the moment the kid cringed underneath him, a soft sound caught in his throat that made Raihan moan, and he rutted up against him, lost in the feeling of everything. He found whenever he was with Hop in moments like these, his head felt so foggy, like he was high, or drunk. Raihan had never felt anything like it. Out of all the times he’d fucked, all the people he’d let slap, kick, wreck his entire body where he even sustained permanent scars from it—out of all of Raihan’s sexual affairs, Hop was his favorite. He didn’t think sex would ever feel this good were he to do it with anyone else. 

Just Hop. 

Only Hop could make him feel this way, and he knew it was because they were meant for one another. It had to be. 

“Fuck, I love you so much.” Again, he kissed him, trying to push his tongue into his mouth, but Hop’s teeth were in the way. Raihan wasn’t about to let that slide. Leaning back for a moment, he gave Hop a lopsided smirk, using his thumb to pull back the edge of his mouth, revealing Hop’s front teeth and canines, to which the kid finally spared him the act of actually looking at him for once, his eyes wide. “Open up for me, baby. Wanna taste you. Can’t have you gritting your teeth like that, you know? I’m all for a little pain, so if you wanna bite me, have at it.” He was hoping, he was so, so ready for Hop to bite the fucking shit out of him, that Raihan thought he was going to lose his mind. 

In any case, Hop had seemed to have left his attitude in the living room earlier, because not long after, he gingerly unclenched his teeth, giving Raihan only a small space to slip his tongue through, but it was better than nothing. With a growl caught right in the back of his throat, Raihan lunged forward, doing just that. He shoved his tongue through the small opening, forcing it, and groaned against Hop’s mouth when the kid  _ actually fucking bit down on him.  _

Though, not very hard. Certainly not hard enough to draw blood, but when Raihan felt the pinch of his teeth dig into the top of his tongue, he thought he was going to fucking shoot his cum all over the place. Holy fuck—his cock twitched, and he felt himself getting hard, just from that. Just from having Hop somewhat half-bite into him, Raihan was at a complete loss for how much this kid could twist and bend his body to his whims, if he really wanted. If Hop wanted to, actually wanted to, Raihan would be on his hands and knees. He’d degrade himself, do whatever depraved thing Hop asked of him, and he would love every minute of it. 

He kissed Hop with conviction, hoping to taste every asset of him, hoping to burn the feeling of Hop biting his tongue into his brain. Raihan never, ever wanted to get used to something like this, and he was all too happy to continue the kiss, allowing his tongue inside when Hop opened his mouth enough for him, allowing himself to get lost in the feeling alone when he attempted to get Hop engaged and tongue him back. Though the kid was pretty stoic to say the least, Raihan didn’t mind. He was so happy that Hop nipped his tongue somewhat that he knew he’d be riding high the rest of the night. 

With a deep breath as he pulled away, finally ending the kiss, Raihan’s cheeks were packed with heat at the sight of Hop’s red face. He was red all the way to his ears and he was  _ so fucking cute _ , Raihan couldn’t help to stare. 

“You’re beautiful, Hop. I’ll tell you so a million times if that’s what I gotta do, but  _ damn, baby _ , you get me so hot.” As he said so, Raihan grinded his erection against Hop’s front, receiving a small gasp from the kid when he did so. Raihan let out a small laugh at the sight of his face—he looked terrified, but Raihan was here to ease his anxieties. “Don’t worry, kid, I ain’t gonna just fuck you silly or nothing. I promised you I was gonna take good care of you, so that’s what I’ll do.” And with that said, after he’d eased the ache on his end somewhat by rutting against Hop’s leg, Raihan reached over to grip the edge of his bottoms, pulling back on the elastic until he caught the wonderful sight of Hop’s hips. 

Still unmoving, Hop said nothing. This was all well and good, but Raihan would be lying if he said he didn’t wish Hop would at least participate a little. Even though he bit his tongue, it was nowhere near as rough as Raihan was used to. He knew he had to be gentle with the kid to avoid hurting him or worse—associating sex with Raihan as something  _ bad _ , but Raihan wasn’t used to being so gentle with his partner. All of his dalliances ended with either the both of them having to spend a day or two recovering, or even taking a trip to the hospital in the more extreme case scenarios. But Hop didn’t deserve to be treated that way. 

Raihan loved him. And for the person he loved, he would be gentle, even if he wanted Hop to be a little depraved too, that just wasn’t the kid’s personality. He was way too shy for something like that and it wasn’t fair of Raihan to force him into being rough. 

He sighed. 

Maybe one day. 

But for now, he tugged the waistband of his trousers down, exposing Hop’s underwear, and the kid shivered. Shit, did he shiver. There was little Raihan could do but offer him a smile. “You’re doing good, kid, don’t be scared. You’re being such a good boy for me, you know that? I’ve been dreaming about you since day one, and now that I finally got you here with me—you don’t know how happy I am.” A soft chuckle bubbled in the back of his throat as Raihan teased the elastic band of his underwear. “I want you to be happy too, babe. You ain’t gotta act all shy around me, but damn, does it turn me on.” As if to emphasize his point, Raihan bucked his erection against his leg, causing Hop to choke before he gave him a comforting pat on his thigh. “You just tell me if I’m scaring you or something, alright? I wanna do my best to make you as comfortable as possible.” 

Though Hop said nothing, and hadn’t said a word the entire time Raihan had been going at him like this, he doubted the kid was ever going to open his mouth and speak to him. Raihan couldn’t help but sigh. He hated seeing the kid cringe like this, very obviously not enjoying himself as much as Raihan was, but it couldn’t be helped. He didn’t feel like pressuring him into talking or even engaging, considering he had pushed this kid to do a lot of lofty shit last time they had sex, the least he could do was try to make it up to him. If even a little. 

“Alright, enough playing around. Bet you’re anxious to get this over with, yeah?” No response, but Raihan laughed, more to himself as Hop only sucked in an audible breath. “Right, right, I hear you, kid. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you.” 

Gently as he could, Raihan gripped both sides of Hop’s bottoms before easing them down his legs until both his trousers and underwear were discarded off the edge of the bed. Now Hop lay underneath him with only his t-shirt bunched above his chest, and Raihan couldn’t help but admire the view. 

He clicked his tongue. “Damn, baby, I never get tired of seeing you. You’re so beautiful—fucking  _ gorgeous _ , I could stare at you all day.” 

Hop’s face remained a deep shade of red, though he had long since avoided eye contact with Raihan, he didn’t feel like forcing him to look. This was supposed to be about Hop enjoying himself and while Raihan wanted nothing more than to shove his erect dick straight up his ass, he would destroy this kid if he did something like that. Hop was delicate and deserved to be treated as such. 

And while Raihan wanted to suck his cock, he had to hold off on that for now. There was a part of him that was curious how much he could get Hop excited without touching his dick, and he wondered how sensitive the kid really was. 

Before he could get carried away, Raihan reached over to his bedside, grabbing his bottle of lube he’d left out earlier to squirt some into his hand until his fingers were coated with the substance. He tried to give Hop a reassuring smile, though it didn’t do much good considering he still looked scared shitless. Oh well. There wasn’t much he could do to comfort the kid other than what he was already doing. 

“You don’t have to look so scared, kid. It ain’t gonna hurt. Promise.” Hop didn’t look convinced, not that that was going to stop Raihan. Whether Hop was one hundred percent on board or not was irrelevant. Besides, he’d get used to it soon enough. “Just relax. I’m gonna make you feel good. All you gotta do is lie back and enjoy it.” At this point, Raihan may as well have been talking to a brick wall, because Hop was making it damn loud and clear he refused to speak to him. 

It sucked, but what could he do? Shit happened. 

Without bothering to waste anymore time, Raihan gripped Hop’s thigh with his opposite hand to spread his legs open, fitting himself between them as he did so. Hop barely made more than an uncomfortable gasp, but Raihan ignored it. Taking his lube-covered fingers, he pressed one against Hop’s ass, prodding though not pushing it in just yet. With his finger resting right up against him, Hop had all but stiffened underneath him. He was no longer staring off into space, but had his eyes slammed shut and teeth gritted, as though preparing himself for an onslaught of pain. 

Raihan sighed. There wasn’t a whole lot he could do in order to make Hop believe him when he said he would never hurt him, but he would try his best. Raihan knew he wasn’t very good at being calm and comforting, preferring to get to the thick of it and let loose, especially during sex, but if he had any hope of getting Hop acclimated with something like this, he was going to have to bite the bullet and fucking make damn sure he was as loving as possible. 

“I’m not going to hurt you, Hop. I wish you’d just relax and enjoy yourself. This ain’t a bad thing—this is what couples do all the time. It’s normal. It’s  _ natural _ . You’ll understand one day, babe. You’ll come to see that living with me is much better for you than what you had.” Raihan smiled, not able to help it when a warmth bloomed in his chest. “I love you.”

Hop opened his mouth then, as if to say something, but the second Raihan eased his finger inside, whatever he meant to say died down as he clenched his teeth shut. The kid only reached up to cover his face as though more out of shame than anything, and Raihan sighed yet again at the fact Hop wasn’t going to give him the luxury of seeing the faces he made while he fingered him. He didn’t want to pressure him into showing his face, into doing anything he didn't want to be doing if Raihan could help it, because as pushy as Raihan was being with this entire thing, he still wanted Hop to feel like he could trust him. 

This was supposed to be  _ for  _ him. This was supposed to show Hop how good Raihan was for him. And if he couldn’t even do that by fucking him properly, then he may as well have not bothered at all. 

Though he tried to ignore it, all he felt coil down into his stomach then was overwhelming guilt at the sight of Hop covering his face. Hop was miserable, Raihan could see that. He’d have to be a fucking moron not to, but still, he teased Hop open, rubbing the lube against his inner walls, inserting two fingers to scissor him open while he spread as much of him as he could with lubricant. The stuff was practically oozing out his ass by the end of it, but Raihan was gentle if not as thorough as he could be. He slathered it against his frontal wall, trying to rub the spot he thought might make Hop’s toes curl, but the kid no more than stiffened underneath him. Even as Raihan worked him open, scissoring in and out, stretching him, coating his inside walls with as much lubricant as possible, Hop didn’t make a peep. 

Hop clenched his teeth shut the entire time, uncomfortable moans clawing their way out while Raihan fingered him. He took a moment to slather even  _ more  _ lube on his hands before he was back at him, because  _ dammit,  _ he didn’t care how long this took, if it was to ensure Hop felt no pain, then so be it. There was a moment he thought Hop might begin to moan and enjoy himself a little, but no such luck. Each time Raihan dragged the pads of his fingers against him, Hop would suck in a breath, before becoming still as a statue soon afterward. It was evident that Raihan was not going to loosen Hop up enough to enjoy any of his pleasure at this rate, and with a bit of a defeated sigh, Raihan finally stopped. 

There was nothing he could do by that point, other than slowly pull his fingers out of him, Hop’s ass shimmering with the lube, and he couldn’t help to show how disappointed he was that Hop hadn’t seemed to have enjoyed  _ any  _ of that. No uncomfortable moans, no writhing, no nothing. 

He wasn’t even hard. As sensitive as the kid was, Raihan figured as much care as he took to prepare him that Hop would at least be hard right now, but he wasn’t. Raihan frowned, more at himself than Hop’s lack of excitement. Maybe he was  _ too _ slow? Maybe Hop was one of those people that needed their ass wrecked to have a good time. While that would be right up Raihan’s alley, he sure as fuck wasn’t about to test that theory now of all times. They could wait until Hop was ready before Raihan introduced him to any toys or bondage—things like that. 

Instead, he squirted the last of his lubricant into his palm, stroking the length of his own cock to make absolutely sure Hop didn’t feel an ounce of pain while he fucked him. This much lube was overkill even by Raihan’s standards, but he hoped if he got Hop used to it, they could start using less and less. Just judging by his size alone, there was no way Raihan could hope to go inside of him unlubed without wrecking Hop’s insides, and that was a whole debacle he did not want happening on his hands. There would be no hope of Hop trusting him if he let himself get that carried away. 

For now, his cock was glistening by the time he’d covered it, his bottle completely emptied, and he grabbed hold of Hop’s thighs to steady himself before he pressed the tip right against his entrance. The kid made a gurgling sort of noise out of fear, causing Raihan to pause what he was doing and try offering him a soft smile instead. Though, the gesture was meaningless in the end. Hop wouldn’t uncover his face, but Raihan reached over despite it, trying to gently pry his arm away before he entwined his fingers with Hop’s, squeezing his hand and hoping through that alone that Hop would realize he was well taken care of. Raihan wouldn’t dream of hurting the person he loved. 

“Hey.” 

No response. 

“Hop? Look at me for a second. Just for a second.”

There was a long bout of nothing in which Hop didn’t move nor say a word, and Raihan figured he had receded into himself so much by this point that any lull of conversation he attempted would fall flat on its face, but to his absolute surprise, Hop, though tentative and slow, uncovered his face, eyes rather unfocused before landing right on Raihan. The sight of Hop staring into his eyes caused heat to settle down in the pit of his stomach and Raihan knew he was probably blushing. He was just so beautiful, even while terrified, even while Raihan was doing something like this, Hop was beautiful. 

He smiled, squeezing Hop’s hand in reassurance. “You’re gonna be okay, kid, I promise you. Nothing bad’s gonna happen. I just want you to know that I love you. I love you so much.” Bringing Hop’s hand up to his face, he kissed his knuckles. “Nobody makes me as happy as you do, kid. I know this seems scary, you probably think the worst of me.” Not that he blamed him for that. “But things won’t always be this way. I’m going to take care of you.” He kissed his knuckles once more, though much more fleeting this time. “I promise.”

That look of distraught horror never once left Hop’s face, but Raihan had done all he could to try comforting him. Hop didn’t say one word, not even as Raihan released his hand, gripped his thigh to steady him, and slowly, as slow as Raihan was able to stand it, pushed the tip of his cock inside. Hop’s eyes slammed shut immediately, and he grit his teeth, flinging his head to the side as though that would do any good, but Raihan didn’t dare go all the way inside. It had been a while he had done this, so he was prepared to ease himself in until Hop was ready to take his entire length. 

But damn. 

_ Damn,  _ did he feel good. Before Raihan knew it, he was moaning just from having the tip inside, and his entire body shivered, having missed this feeling so much, he thought he would explode upon getting to feel Hop’s heat wrapped around him once again. 

“F-fuck, baby. You feel so good. S-so-so good.” Slowly, trying to not put too much in at once, Raihan eased out, giving Hop a few seconds to breathe before he slid his length in about halfway. Hop drew up underneath him, his back folded over, and he hissed through his teeth, Raihan hating how he cringed when he just wanted him to enjoy himself. “Does it hurt? You can tell me, Hop, I won’t get mad. I want you to enjoy yourself and there’s not much point if you aren’t loving it.”

Though thinking Hop would be loving it was a bit much, even Raihan knew that, but he couldn’t help to dream about Hop coming to him begging him for this someday. Maybe in due time, he would break down his defensive wall little by little. Maybe Hop would even come to tolerate him. Smile at him. Beg him for sex. 

He had only been here a short while, although it felt like much longer, Raihan was hoping with more time that Hop would come around. Eventually. They didn’t have to dive deep into too much right away, as they had plenty of time to get acquainted with one another, even though Raihan had been more than acquainted with Hop for years at this point, being in a relationship with him was another thing. 

He pulled out, gaining no response from Hop who only grunted when he did so. The kid was giving him no feedback, no direction, but Raihan already suspected he would have to take the reins by himself and just hope that Hop wasn’t suffering. He wasn’t screaming in pain or anything like that, mostly just cringing, so if anything, he was uncomfortable, but unfortunately there wasn’t anything Raihan could do for him on that front. He’d just have to keep going until Hop got used to it. It would start to feel good if he gave it time.

Lifting Hop’s hand in his own, their fingers still laced together, Raihan brushed his lips against his knuckles as he slowly began easing himself in and out of him, only daring to go about halfway, but it was enough to satiate his own pleasure for now. Hop barely rocked back and forth underneath him as Raihan kept his movements steady and slow for now. Just to get him accustomed to it. That’s all this was. 

For Hop to get used to him. 

“You’re doing so good for me, Hop. I’m proud of you, babe.” His affirmations may not have been worth much, but Raihan could only hope Hop was getting  _ something  _ out of this. The kid was giving him nothing to work with, and Raihan kept a steady grip on his hand, giving him a measured squeeze anytime he thought his thrusting might have been hurting him, hoping Hop’s fears were put to rest by the action. He wanted him to know he cared about his feelings, he wanted Hop to know more than anything that he would never, ever hurt him. 

Raihan just wanted to love him. 

Hop didn’t say a word. If it felt good, Raihan had no knowledge of it, and he sighed despite himself. Finally giving himself attention was only causing his orgasm to creep, but  _ dammit,  _ he was going to have this kid right there with him one way or another. Keeping his legs spread to give Raihan ample room to work with, he finally pulled his length out, save for the tip, before squeezing Hop’s hand, drawing circles on his knuckles with his thumb. 

“Does it hurt?”

Hop shivered in exchange for a response, but Raihan wasn’t about to let him get away with that. It was time for the kid to talk whether he wanted to or not.

“Answer me, Hop,  _ does it hurt? _ ” Raihan stopped moving completely, only sitting with the tip of his cock inside of Hop, but dammit, the kid was going to answer him one way or another. That much he would make sure of. “I’m trying to make you comfortable, babe, I won’t be mad if it does. Just tell me. Tell me what it feels like. Tell me what I can do to make this better for you.”

“No…” It was so small, Raihan almost didn’t hear when Hop finally spoke, and the kid’s face was absolutely ablaze with heat. Raihan could see the red trailing from his ears all the way to his neck, and with his eyes still slammed shut, Hop just shook his head. The kid wouldn’t look at him for fucking anything. “Stop, p-please, Raihan…” He clenched his teeth, his voice no more than a pathetic wail at this point. “I-I want  _ to stop. _ ”

He didn’t reprimand him. He didn’t get annoyed by Hop’s protests or even how distressed his face looked, how the kid couldn’t even relax enough to enjoy this. Raihan didn’t bother to threaten him. Comfort him. Hell—he didn’t even have the energy to laugh about it, how nothing he did was good for him, and that was on Raihan’s shoulders, not Hop’s. 

“Babe, we can’t stop now.” He sucked in a breath, gripping Hop’s thigh to prepare himself. “We ain’t even got to the best part yet.” 

“I hate it. I-I  _ hate it. _ ” The sound of Hop’s voice rising in pitch in the otherwise quiet room was enough to give Raihan a reason to stop what he was doing. He’d been prepared to just shove the entirety of his cock into Hop’s ass, but the way the kid whined—no. He wasn’t whining. The sounds that seeped out of his throat were nothing but despair and misery, the sound palpable enough to make Raihan shiver. 

It only served to make Raihan’s chest tighten. Why...the fuck was he doing this to the poor kid? Here he was, having Hop lie beneath him like he’d been dreaming about for so long, having gotten him exactly where he wanted, below him, lubed and ready for Raihan’s cock, something Raihan could have only achieved in fantasy—but it was real. It was real and it was happening. The fact Hop was splayed before him, face red, eyes glued shut, and his entire body trembling, this was something that had taken  _ years  _ in the making. This is what he wanted. This is exactly what Raihan had been wanting and waiting for for so long. So many years. 

He wanted Hop to know how badly he loved him, how he’d do anything for him. Anything. So to see this kid so miserable broke his heart, and Raihan knew it was all his fault. This entire thing—he could stop if he wanted to. He could leave this right here, give Hop back his clothes, his bag, give him back everything he’d taken from him, and send him off back to his family. Raihan could let him go. He could free him.

His palms trembled at the prospect of never seeing Hop again should that happen. The kid would be happy. Even if Raihan got caught, his crimes plastered for the entire nation to see, wasn’t that a small price to pay to ensure that Hop was happy in the end? Because Hop would never be happy with him. He knew that. 

Hop would never love him. He would never come to Raihan and beg to be fucked. 

Raihan’s throat tightened. 

Yeah...he knew that. 

Hearing how much Hop hated this, despite all Raihan had done trying to make him comfortable, he couldn't deny that it made his chest ache. Raihan could undo all of this, if he really wanted. He could stop this thing before he dug his grave too deep, before he fucked up Hop anymore than he already had, and make things right. 

Raihan could admit this entire thing was fucked up, and return Hop where he rightfully belonged. He could take responsibility, he could start repenting for his crimes, and do something right for a change. 

But—

Raihan sighed, gripping Hop’s thigh to steady himself before he pushed the entire length of his cock inside, gaining an obvious hiss of pain from Hop when he did so. All he could do then was shush him quietly as he slowly rocked back out of him, only to push it right back in all the way to the hilt. 

But, Raihan couldn’t stand the idea of Hop being with those who wouldn’t treat him right. Nothing about what Raihan was doing was good for the kid by any means, but he did put his best interests first and foremost. If he let Hop go now, where would he wind up? Unappreciated and glanced over by his family, especially that stupid gross older brother of his. He couldn’t do that to him, no matter how much Hop longed for his family, Raihan knew down the road they would only let him down, they would only push him to the side, and Hop would never know it.

Hop didn’t need them. He needed Raihan. And maybe he would never love him. Maybe this would always be miserable for him, but dammit—in the end, Raihan knew this was best for him. Hop staying with him wasn’t ideal, and he might be sad for a long time down the road—but at least Raihan loved him. At least he cared about him. Raihan knew how to take care of him, he knew exactly what Hop needed, even if Hop himself didn’t realize it. 

That’s more than he could say for any of those people. 

He kept his movements slow and steady, until Hop quieted underneath him, but by that time, the kid was frozen solid, not even cringing anymore, but just—stopped. Like Raihan had sucked all the life out of him in one fell swoop. With his eyes firmly planted shut, there wasn’t a damn thing Raihan could do for him now, despite his efforts, despite how he’d tried to remain gentle up until this point, he was losing himself fast. Finally getting to fuck Hop after all this time was like becoming high, and Raihan was drunk off it. Each time he thrust his cock inside of him, reveling in the way Hop tightened around him, he moaned at the sensation. Hop was wrapped around him in every sense of the word, the lubricant making squelching noises as Raihan had used so much, but that was a good thing. It made going inside easier, and he could only hope it meant Hop was having an easier time taking his cock.

Hop wasn’t making any noises of pain, so Raihan could only assume he was growing used to him. He hoped, anyway. 

“Baby...oh Hop—baby—” Raihan bit his bottom lip as he thrusted in and out faster, gaining speed. “You feel so good. C-can’t get enough of you—so  _ good _ …” He had to close his eyes for a moment and just focus on the feeling of being wrapped in Hop’s heat. Fuck—this kid would never know how amazing he felt, and it only served to hammer in Raihan’s mind that they were meant for one another. There was no way it wasn’t true. How the fuck was it possible for sex with him to feel this good? Raihan figured he’d never be able to bust a proper nut unless he was on his knees getting pegged and slapped around, yet here he was, about to explode from having some of the most boring, vanilla sex with Hop, just because it was  _ Hop.  _

When he opened his eyes, he thought he might lose himself when he saw that Hop’s cock was slowly bouncing up each time he was rocked back until he had gotten completely hard. Shit...Raihan hadn’t even  _ touched  _ him yet, hoping the kid would do this while he’d prepared him, but maybe it was true that Hop liked it a little rough, even if he didn’t say so. 

Raihan couldn’t help but chuckle to himself before he reached over, finally giving Hop some well-deserved attention as he wrapped his hand around his cock. If the kid wanted it rough, who was Raihan to take that away from him? Hop only produced a small whine of discomfort before Raihan had pumped him a few times, keeping his rhythm steady as he stroked up Hop’s cock in time with his own thrusts. 

“Y-you’re taking me so well, babe. You’re so good to me, do you know that?” The fact Raihan was able to fit the entirety of his cock inside of Hop with seemingly no pain and only uncomfortable pleasure on Hop’s end was all the drive Raihan needed to speed up his movements. He wasn’t that far off himself, having been hard ever since Hop bit into his tongue, but he didn’t dare let himself come before Hop had a chance to. If the kid’s track record was anything to go off, it wouldn’t be long before he hit his peak. Raihan may have been disappointed he didn’t react much to being fingered, but maybe Hop just needed more...push. 

If Hop wanted to get off on his cock alone, Raihan sure as hell wasn’t about to complain. 

“I’m so proud of you, babe. Taking me like this, being such a good boy for me. You deserve a reward, don’t you think?” While he was mostly talking to himself at this point, Raihan didn’t think there was much harm in teasing him a little. Just a little. It wasn’t like he planned to do anything awful, but with his orgasm creeping, Hop’s cock now leaking precum into his hand, he couldn’t help himself. 

Hop was rocked below him into the mattress the more Raihan sped up, losing himself in the euphoria of his own pleasure. The smallest movements of Hop thrusting against his hand could be felt, and Raihan knew he was close. After all this time, maybe Hop was just trying to hold back, but Raihan didn’t care if he wanted to explode all over him. It would make him so happy to be covered in Hop’s cum. 

Raihan bit his bottom lip, not sure how much longer he could hold back, because he was fucking with conviction now, Hop rolling against the bed with every movement he made. His entire body was being slid back, until he was almost against the headboard, Raihan’s eagerness prevalent. He couldn’t help it though. This kid drove him crazy, and he probably fucked into him way too hard, but Hop didn’t seem to mind. He was cringing, yes, but the smallest sounds of his moans escaped his throat, and Raihan bit the blood from his bottom lip to keep from coming too fast. Just a little more. He was close, but not close enough. Hop had to be closer. 

Just a little... 

“Hop…” He was getting close watching Hop bounce underneath him, and holy fuck did this kid take him so well, like he was meant for him, like Raihan fit perfectly inside of him. He was so fucking close. And Hop looked so beautiful then, his teeth grit, eyes shut, body being rocked back and forth with every thrust, his cock twitching in Raihan’s hand. He was going to  _ snap _ . “H-Hop—Hop—t-tell me you love me.” 

His orgasm would be everything Raihan dreamt it would be if Hop were to say that. Fuck—to hear the kid say those words to him, Raihan knew. He knew he would never be the same again. 

Though getting Hop to say anything right now was a heavy task, Raihan was prepared for that. “I-I don’t care if you don’t mean it. Just say it.” He squeezed his cock, just enough to get the kid to move, to open his mouth, as he slathered his precum all down his length. Raihan was pleading, knowing he had resorted to begging, but goddamn—he wanted it. He wanted it so bad, he’d never wanted anything more in his life right now other than Hop saying he loved him. “Do it, Hop—say you love me.  _ Please… _ ” 

With a particularly harsh thrust inside him, Hop was rocked back until he hit the headboard, but Raihan was so far gone he couldn’t readjust their position. The kid would just have to deal with it. For a moment, he didn’t think he’d say a damn word, because he’d been mostly silent this entire time, so why would he say that? Raihan may have wanted it, but that didn't mean Hop would give it to him.

But, with gritted teeth, Hop slowly opened his mouth, those words, those wonderful, beautiful,  _ gorgeous _ words seeping out so quietly, but in that moment, Raihan could hear them loud and clear like an orchestra blaring in his ear. “I-I…” Hop swallowed, his face red.  _ So cute.  _ “I love you…” 

_ Oh fuck yeah.  _ Raihan hissed through his teeth, sure he was going to blow his load any minute now. “Say it again, baby.”

“I-I lo-love you…”

“Again.”

“I love you…” With each syllable Hop forced out his mouth, Raihan could hear the way he cringed upon saying it, his voice little more than a whisper, but that was fine with Raihan. He didn’t care how quietly Hop said those words to him, because he was riding high, way too high to give a damn about something as insignificant as the volume of Hop’s voice. 

“One more time, Hop.” He sucked in a breath, Hop thrusting against his hand as he gripped his cock, never once letting go. There were so many things happening at once that Raihan couldn’t think straight, couldn’t focus—all that mattered was Hop saying those three words to him over and over. “Say it one more time for me, babe. I’m so close—”

Then—

Hop thrust against his hand, his cum spurting out as he did so, as his voice choked over the words, “I-I  _ love _ you!” while he was forced to shout it, and Raihan lost his everloving mind, having not expected it. 

Hearing Hop’s voice reach a pitch that high was something he never thought he’d ever hear, yet here he was, and when the kid spasmed below him, back arched as he came all into his hand, the moans mixing with his groans of discomfort and pleasure, the way he tightened around Raihan as he rode himself out, and it was easy for Raihan to follow right behind him. 

“Hop!  _ Fuck—baby—I love you! _ ” With his hand gripping the underside of Hop’s thigh to keep him as steady as he was able, Raihan gave a final thrust before his cum exploded inside of him. Hop only gave a cry of momentary pain when Raihan thrusted into him way too hard, trying to ride it out, but the kid quieted soon after, gasping and unable to bite back his moans while he was fucked into. Raihan fucked himself inside of him, pumping himself dry as he thrusted into him again and again and again, squeezing himself for every last drop he could afford to give. 

Hop’s own pleasure had long since winded down and the kid ragdolled below him, limbs limp as he just took the rest of Raihan’s rutting. He didn’t move, or say a word, until Raihan gave a final thrust, no longer able to keep going, before stopping completely. 

He gave a huge gulp of air, holding onto Hop’s legs for support when the high began to die down, and the two of them just breathed for a moment. Breathed and existed alongside one another, until the only sounds in the room were heavy breathing, panting, and Raihan’s long, soft sigh. 

“Baby…” He couldn’t help to smile. Smile at Hop. “Fuck, I love you. Do you know that? You know I love you.” 

It didn’t matter if Hop didn’t mean it or not, Raihan was so happy to hear those words come out his mouth. So happy. He didn’t think he’d ever felt quite like this after sex, still sitting inside Hop, his high dying down, but not the pleasure. Not in the least. Hop lay underneath him, breathing steady and unmoving, but Raihan was as gentle as he was able when he slowly pulled out of him. His cum oozed out, and Hop made a sort of uncomfortable whine, though Raihan reveled at the sight of his own excitement leaking from him, he couldn’t help to grin.

“Sorry for the mess. You don’t know how hot you make me.” It was only the truth. Raihan couldn’t remember a time sex felt this good, not even when he’d gotten people to beat the shit out of him, fuck him on his hands and knees, none of that compared to fucking Hop. How was it possible for this kid, this one single kid, to do this to him? Make Raihan weak. Make him crazy. Irrational. Insane. Insane with love, with pleasure—he didn’t care. Raihan didn’t care. He loved him. Fuck, he loved him _ so much.  _

Hop shivered underneath him, and Raihan propped himself up from the bed to move over him. Looping both arms around Hop, he brought him up, cradling him in his arms, trying to be mindful of the mess below them. He wasn’t sure if Hop was sore or not, but he didn’t want to risk accidentally hurting him if he was. Raihan knew he got carried away by the end of it, having fucked into Hop so hard that he swore he saw stars, but for now—he just held him. Cuddling up close to him, Raihan could still smell the scent of whipped cream all in his hair and he couldn't help to nuzzle his face against him, feeling as though he could drift off to sleep right then and there if he wasn’t careful. Hop’s hair was so soft. Way softer than Raihan’s. 

He sighed in utter contentment, rocking Hop in his arms as though trying to lull a distraught child to sleep. “I love you, baby. Love you so much.” 

“I...love you...too.” 

When he didn’t expect Hop to speak to him, Raihan froze completely, Hop pretty much lax in his arms, but no longer quivering from the looks of it. It’d been like pulling fucking teeth trying to get Hop to engage with him at all tonight, to get him to even open his mouth and speak, so for Hop to say this back to him, Raihan couldn’t help that small bundle of nerves that dipped right into his stomach. His heart fluttered, and for a brief moment, for a wonderful, orgasmic moment that felt better than the fucking load Raihan just blew out, his face gushed heat, his smile curling on both sides. 

Hop said he loved him. 

Hop really just said he loved him. 

Was this—had Raihan gotten through to him? Did Hop understand now what he meant to him? 

About a million thoughts were rushing through his mind, but before Raihan got carried away, he pulled back from the hug, his smile instantly dropping when he saw Hop’s face. The look on his face alone—all of Raihan’s hopes and dreams were thrown out the window. Hop’s eyes were lined with tears, though they’d stagnated and hadn’t fallen. His cheeks were red, normally something that would be quite adorable on him, but from beneath his glasses, his tear-ridden eyes were wide with absolute terror. When Raihan pulled away from the hug, he didn’t dare look at him, his chest rising and falling with each struggling breath he took, as though afraid breathing too loud would anger Raihan, and he knew then, Hop didn’t mean it. 

He was scared to death. 

The only reason Hop said that to him was because he thought that’s what Raihan wanted to hear, and while that wasn’t a lie, Raihan wanted him to  _ mean it.  _ He wanted Hop to be happy, to say he had enjoyed that, but the evidence was right there displayed all over his face. Hop didn’t have to say a fucking word for Raihan to understand why he just said he loved him back. 

Raihan had threatened him before, something Hop had taken to heart. He was so terrified of being drugged, he had gone along with Raihan this entire time, even if it meant telling Raihan exactly what he wanted to hear, even if Raihan wasn’t truthful with those threats, having wanted Hop to go along with him, to make the process easier. He figured Hop would lose his inhibitions before long and enjoy himself—

Yeah. 

Raihan could only sigh. More at himself. 

Hop didn’t deserve this. He should have never said all that he said before, because while he wanted compliance, he hadn’t wanted fearful submission. Not like this. 

All Raihan could do was lift his hand up, tipping Hop’s glasses up just enough to wipe away the tears threatening to spill from his eyes. “Hop, don’t cry. You don’t have to be scared, babe. You don’t have to say things like that either, just because you’re scared of what I’ll say if you don’t. I won’t be mad. I could never be mad at you, kid.” Though he was attempting to be comforting, keeping his voice low and soothing, there wasn’t much Raihan could do for the kid right now. This entire thing was supposed to be an excuse for Raihan to show Hop that sex was fun, and now look what he’d done. 

Raihan only succeeded in giving the kid more reason to hate his guts. 

This wasn’t what he wanted at all. 

Even though he knew that. He knew this wasn’t what Hop needed, but Raihan hadn’t cared. Dammit—he was horny, he just wanted to fuck him, just to feel Hop around him again, and he wanted so bad for the kid to enjoy it that he lost sight of himself. Raihan knew he was selfish for this. He knew this was wrong. 

He swallowed. 

This was wrong…

Keeping Hop here locked up in the tower, that’s something a crazy person would do. Raihan was just shy of turning completely psychotic. He knew Hop was miserable. No amount of denial would change that, just because he thought the kid needed time to get used to him. Even though in theory, he could argue with himself all day that if he just kept at it, kept fucking him, kept insisiting, then eventually Hop would have no choice but to grow used to it. To  _ all  _ of it. 

Raihan knew he hated him. There wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it either. Not that he blamed him. Hop had every right to hate him, and hell, if Raihan were him, he would hate him too. 

Those annoying feelings cropped up yet again, nagging at him, berating him, screaming at him to let the kid go. Just let him go.  _ Can’t you see you’re killing him? If you really loved him, you’d let him go back home. If you loved him, you would have never done something so heinous.  _

Raihan swallowed, his grip around Hop waning. 

He did love him...he did. Only in his wildest dreams would Hop ever reciprocate, and Raihan had already made up his mind that he’d take Hop’s hatred over nothing at all, because at least hating him was still a passionate emotion. At least Hop still felt  _ something  _ for him, if he were to hate him. Raihan could live with that, if this kid hated him for the rest of his life. Then so be it. 

“Hop…” He bit his bottom lip, almost drawing blood, because the words ‘I’m sorry’ were right there on the tip of his tongue, yet he couldn’t seem to muster the energy to actually say them. How the fuck did he think he could just apologize and think it would make things better? 

Nothing would be better. He had stolen Hop away from his life, ripped him right out of it, lied to his brother, lied to everyone, all because Raihan had been too ashamed to actually ask him out before, too ashamed to let his obsession die down. Hop didn’t deserve this. 

Raihan knew the right thing was to let him go. Take him back home and let Hop start getting his life back together. Plaster his crime all over Galar for everyone to know what a fucking perverted criminal Raihan was. They’d take him away, Hop would be back with his family, Leon would probably hunt him down and snatch his nuts off for doing what he’d done, but Raihan didn’t care. Life wasn’t very fulfilling unless Hop was there with him, and he knew this wasn’t ideal. It wasn’t right. What Raihan had done was unforgivable, and he  _ hated seeing Hop so sad.  _

All he wanted was this kid’s happiness. 

All he ever wanted was to show him how much Raihan loved and appreciated him, when nobody else did. That’s all Raihan wanted to prove. He never meant to hurt him. 

“Um.” He was snapped from his thoughts, finally moving away from Hop as he eased himself off the side of the bed. Raihan hadn’t taken any of his clothes off, save for bunching down his pants to expose his cock, but Hop was naked from the waist down, and he turned away from him, as though that would give him any ounce of privacy. It didn’t, but it was the principle of the matter. “Wh-why don’t you go shower, kid? There’s cake and stuff in the kitchen. Have at it. Eat all you want.” 

He knew he was being cold, but Raihan couldn’t look at that expression on Hop’s face any longer without feeling overwhelming guilt. There was no point in apologizing. No point in talking about it. They both knew Raihan just wanted an excuse to sleep with him again, and he fucking got what he wanted, didn’t he? Raihan should have been happy he’d gotten Hop to go along with this. 

But all he felt was the lingering sting of reality. This wasn’t a fantasy get away for Hop. This wasn’t paradise away from home where he was with someone he loved. 

Raihan kidnapped him, drugged him,  _ raped _ —his throat tightened, and he shivered, not even finishing that thought. What a horrible word. 

Without another word to Hop, Raihan readjusted his trousers, tucking his flaccid dick back into them before he grabbed his cigarettes. All he did was quickly wash up at his bathroom sink before he was out the door, away from Hop. 

The sun had set long ago. Hammerlocke was beautiful underneath the setting summer sun, the last rays of light having died off ages ago. The remaining remnants of orange were visible in the sky, but the city below was awash in darkness, and the night life would soon come alive. Raihan stood on top of the many balconies overlooking the city, chin in his palm, gaze fixed upward at the sky that slowly began to give way to the stars. 

He took several long drags of his cigarette, his head splitting open with pain as he thought and thought and thought some more. Before he knew it, the moon had climbed into the sky, and Hammerlocke was only lit by the artificial street lamps and whatnot. Raihan stood above it all, watching people walk by, tending to their own business, nobody in their right mind ever realizing he had kidnapped someone and was holding them captive in the tower. 

His cigarette had long turned to ash, and still, Raihan smoked another, and another, all the while his mind ran rampant with what he should do. 

Because he knew what was right. Raihan knew he had to let that kid go if he wanted any hope of him being happy, because happiness certainly didn’t exist for the two of them. Even if it did, Raihan had no fucking idea how the hell he would go about getting it. Letting him go was the right thing to do, but—

That broke Raihan’s heart. He’d gotten so used to living with Hop the past month or so, that thinking of giving him back was out of the question. It was the right thing to do, but Raihan couldn’t accept that. There had to be a way he could give Hop everything he needed, and Raihan supposed he could start with the intimacy. No more threats. No more coercing Hop into sleeping with him unless the kid was at least somewhat on board. The image of his face was haunting him already and Raihan knew he would be seeing those bloodshot eyes in his damn sleep. 

At the time, he’d just been so horny, he wasn’t really thinking of the consequences of threatening Hop like that, but he couldn’t do that to the poor kid anymore. Fucking him was amazing, Raihan didn’t want to stop sleeping with him if he could help it, but— _ fuck _ , why couldn’t the kid just  _ want it?  _ Why couldn’t he let go of his reservations and just enjoy it? Enjoy Raihan? 

He loved him. He didn’t want to hurt him. He didn’t want him scared.  _ Great fucking job there _ ,  _ dumbfuck _ , scaring the shit out of him like he’d done tonight. That was some damage control Raihan was not looking forward to. But that was his own fault. He’d proven that he had no qualms about drugging Hop before, of course he would take a threat like that seriously. 

Raihan sighed for the upteempth time that night, taking a drag of his cigarette before blowing the smoke out afterward where it coiled in the air. There would be no letting Hop go, that much was for damn sure. Raihan didn’t care how awful he was, how much Hop hated him for ignoring what was so obviously right, but dammit—he loved him and he would prove it to him one way or another. Even if it took the rest of his life, Raihan would show Hop that he loved him, that he didn’t want to hurt him. His love was genuine, he knew it was. He fucking knew it. 

The stars had never looked brighter than they did now, and Raihan closed his eyes when he leaned his head back, sucking in a long, long breath. 

Perhaps leaving Galar with Hop wasn’t such a bad idea after all. 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're going to spend a little time with Hop for a couple chapters! :D 
> 
> PLS be aware, there's noncon in this chapter, so please take care while reading! this chapter was very fun to write bc it's such a fucking trainwreck lol (you'll see why)
> 
> thank you guys as always for your support! it means a lot ;-;

There were plenty of times in Hop’s life he often regretted things. Although times were much simpler when he was younger, he still thought back to when the biggest disaster of his life was accidentally missing one of Leon’s championship matches on the telly. He had been so excited for it, even planned to record it, but he ended up forgetting. He forgot why he even forgot in the first place, because he’d been fairly young, but he could still hear the sounds of his own wails when his mum informed him Leon was no longer on tv. 

He’d felt so guilty for missing one of his matches that Hop didn’t even want to speak to him for a while afterward. What kind of little brother was he to not support Leon like he deserved?

Obviously, Hop had been too young to realize that it wasn’t that big of a deal, but to him, that was one of the first times he’d ever been devastated over something like that. He could have said he regretted it, yes. 

But that was nothing compared to how much regret he felt swelling up inside him now. How he chastised himself for being so stupid, so fucking stupid to be caught up in the situation he was in now. And all for what? For his brother’s best friend to get some fucked up fetish out of his system? Did he often go around kidnapping young boys and keeping them locked up? Hop had spent many hours already pondering over the ifs ands or buts to hardly anything resembling a conclusion. He could always say it was because Raihan was crazy, at least that was simple enough to make sense of. 

But it didn’t do much good for his lingering sense of regret. He couldn’t _believe_ he used to have a crush on Raihan. He never even thought he noticed, considering how cold Raihan was to him all the time, Hop figured he didn’t like little kids hanging around him, because when he was little, Hop remembered thinking Raihan was cool. 

Cool, smart... _handsome_. Something he could never tell Leon should he worry his brother might think he was rooting for the other team. Hop liked the both of them, and he would always support Leon, since he was his favorite. But he couldn’t help feeling just a little bit bashful anytime Raihan came over to visit, hoping he would shoot him a smile, or ask Hop to join in with whatever he and Leon were doing. 

Fuck—Hop used to like him so much. Whenever Raihan showed no interest in him whatsoever, Hop used to daydream about asking him out to do something together, but by the time Hop had ever considered gathering the courage to do anything like that, Raihan was a gym leader, his brother was off in Wyndon most of the time, and Hop was left down in Postwick by himself. At least, until Gloria moved in. 

The two of them became fast friends, though Hop always sort of pined after Raihan to a degree, his crush began to dissipate little by little over the years. It’s not like someone as important as Raihan would ever look twice in his direction, right? Hop knew he was way out of his league from day one, and focused his sights on Gloria, though he had begun to suspect her feelings for him were purely platonic. Hop could live with that. It was disappointing, but he could live with it. 

To go from thinking Raihan wanted nothing to do with him to being locked in the castle, living with him—Hop would have called anyone insane had they told him this is the direction his life would eventually take. It made no sense—after all those years he’d spent thinking Raihan was some amazing hotshot, someone who’d never _dare_ be seen with Hop, to waking up on his bed, lying beneath him, being fucked by him. 

Raihan claimed he had feelings for him, but Hop didn’t believe that for a second. What kind of monster did that to someone they claimed to love? Hop may have liked him before, even daydreamed of asking him out, but after knowing what Raihan was capable of, after realizing he just wanted a piece of Hop’s ass, well— 

That bridge burned a long fucking time ago. It was clear to Hop more than ever that Raihan was just a pervert, a fucked up individual who got his kicks by drugging and kidnapping young boys. Maybe he’d been doing this kind of thing for years, though Hop continued to suspect he had more nefarious plans in mind, he didn’t like the idea that Raihan was just using his body for his own gain only to kill him down the road once he got bored. Why go through all the effort if he was just going to throw him away?

Hop had stopped juggling these types of thoughts long ago. It didn’t matter what Raihan had in mind for him, but the fact of the matter was, he made it perfectly clear that Hop wasn’t leaving anytime soon. Hop couldn’t _believe_ how stupid he’d been, but why would he ever suspect Raihan of being a fucking creep? 

His crush had only been skin-deep, after all. Thinking Raihan was cool or handsome, even enough to cause Hop to blush, but he could only sigh to himself in resignation as he gazed off at the television, not absorbing any of the information, just staring blankly. To know what Raihan was capable of, the lengths he’d go through, to say Hop was in a constant state of unease was an understatement. The man had already proven he was more than willing to drug Hop into compliance, and despite assuring Hop time and time again that he wasn’t going to hurt him, Hop had no reason to trust anything he said. 

He felt stupid for having ever liked Raihan at one point. Now that he knew the real Raihan, the real, degenerate, perverted Raihan, Hop could only curse his past self, not knowing what he ever saw in him. How could someone seemingly so normal harbor such a dark side to them? It made him paranoid of all the unassuming, well-meaning people he’d met, how many of them were secretly psychopaths?

That was neither here nor there, and did nothing to make him feel better. 

Hop had been living with Raihan for a few months at this point. Summer had given way to autumn, and the times Raihan took him outside on the balcony for fresh air, Hop could at least say he was grateful to see the landscape change. The once lush green grass covering the Wild area was slowly turning various shades of orange and reds. Autumn was definitely upon them, to the point Raihan made it his personal mission to supply Hop with a fresh set of winter clothes, though he had to admit, he didn’t think he’d still be in the castle like this for so long. The changing seasons only fueled his anxiety for why nobody was out looking for him, or if they were, that Raihan was just very good at covering his tracks and lying to people’s faces. 

But surely Leon would have been leading a nationwide search for him...right? Hop had yet to see any news coverage about his disappearance. Nothing on tv to suggest he was being searched for. All the times Raihan told him that nobody actually cared about him was starting to take its toll. Hop wanted to believe his family was searching for him, that even Gloria was out there killing herself trying to find him, and that they would eventually figure out that it was Raihan’s doing and come rescue him. 

Hop could hope and wish all day long, but it wouldn’t change the fact he was still locked up in the tower. Many times he’d tried to steal Raihan’s Rotom, but the damn thing was in cahoots, and would blare noise or fly the fuck away anytime Hop so much as tried to grab it. Fucker. Maybe that only proved there were no bad Pokémon, as Hop couldn’t blame the Rotom for sticking by Raihan’s side, it was only doing what Raihan asked of it, though that didn’t make Hop’s situation easier by any damn means. 

The only company Hop really had that could have been considered pleasant was Goodra, since she oftentimes sympathized with him, he could tell. She’d lay her head in his lap, cuddle up to him the nights he couldn’t sleep and wandered around the apartment aimlessly, always finding himself in front of the entryway, but never being able to make it that far thanks to the door. Goodra at least seemed to take pity on him and stuck by his side, though Hop could see in her eyes a lingering expression of sadness and regret. It was strange how a Pokémon could give him something like empathy, but Hop would take whatever comfort he could afford, even if it was from someone he couldn’t even speak to. 

Sometimes language was only superficial when it boiled down to raw emotion and solidarity. Hop could at least pat Goodra’s head and know deep down that she felt bad for him, maybe even wanted to help him, but couldn’t go against Raihan. It was unheard of for a Pokémon to turn on its trainer, and Hop couldn’t blame her for that either. Raihan was still their trainer, and he knew hoping they would bust him out of here was wishful thinking. 

If Hop had any hope of escaping the castle, he’d either have to get himself out, or wait for a rescue squad to show up. Though the fact it was almost winter when he’d been brought here at the beginning of summer weighed heavily on his mind—because what if nobody ever came? What if he ended up stuck here for—hell, Hop didn’t even _like_ thinking of staying here longer than he had to. It made him sick with anxiety. 

Imagining any extended stay was nerve-wracking as all shit and he often tried to keep himself busy by watching the telly, wandering around, or evening playing the DS Raihan let him have. It was better than sitting in silence for hours on end wallowing in his own misery. Of course, Hop was no stranger by this point of getting off his ass and exploring—well, snooping was more like it. Any chance he got that Raihan wasn’t tailing after him or clinging to him, Hop tried to memorize any details he could about the apartment, namely location and exits. There was only one exit to speak of, which Hop would need the keycard to access, and since Raihan kept that damn thing glued to his skin, there wasn’t much chance Hop got to try and steal it off him. Even if he did manage to get close, the stupid Rotom phone always alerted Raihan to Hop’s plans, putting a halt to anything he might try. 

Even when Raihan left Hop to his own devices, Hop would take the chance to go through his room, trying to find any means of escape. He got quite a shock the first time he ransacked Raihan’s closet to find a conspicuous sack full of a multitude of items Hop didn’t even want to know the names of. Things like rope, duct tape—shit like that. Hop had never dropped something so fast in his life, recoiling away from it like it had bitten him, but only served as a constant reminder of the circumstances in which he’d come to be here. Having woken up bound and blindfolded was scary as fuck in itself, but Hop never would have thought Raihan was capable of depravity of this magnitude. 

Where were the supposed signs? Hop should have caught on that Raihan was secretly a sociopath, but no—Raihan had always been the cool, older boy that visited the house sometimes. The cool older boy Hop used to have a crush on. 

_Used to._

Hop shivered at the fact he’d ever held onto feelings for Raihan in the first place. Of course, if he only knew Raihan’s true nature, he would have never fallen for him, and he cursed himself for never picking up any signs whatsoever that Raihan was a criminal. Maybe Leon never suspected his friend to be capable of things like this either, but even thinking of his brother caused Hop’s blood to turn cold. 

He could still hear that video loud and clear, his brother’s slurred words echoing in his mind as though someone were screaming them until they rattled in his head. 

Leon drunkenly admitted he had feelings for Hop. Well, maybe not _feelings,_ as Hop would lose his damn mind if he called something like that feelings, but Leon definitely made it clear he was interested in him, sexually even. Why the fuck was every older boy in Hop’s life a fucking pervert? First Raihan, then his brother. He’d tried arguing with himself that Raihan somehow faked that video just to mess with him, but the more he dwelled on it, the more sick to his stomach he got at the prospect of Leon wanting to sleep with him. 

And really—what if Leon had sneaked into his room and done something to Hop in his sleep? He would never suspect his brother to be capable of things like that, just like he never suspected Raihan, so anything could have happened. Raihan and Leon could have been in on it together, and Hop could only sink down further into the couch at the thought that his own brother might have touched him in his sleep. 

Fuck this, honestly. Fuck this entire thing. His brother’s best friend had kidnapped him, was keeping him locked up, and Hop’s older brother was a fucking pervert to boot. Sometimes he felt as though he lacked any leg to stand on, and could only hope Raihan eventually got bored with him and let him go. 

He swallowed, throat tight. 

Either that or kill him, to get rid of all the evidence. He wouldn’t put it past him, if Raihan could do something so awful to him in the first place, who was to say he wouldn’t just off him in the end? It had been on the forefront of Hop’s mind for the better part of the past couple of months, long before the seasons began to change and Hammerlocke was basked in orange, reds, and bitter cold. 

The times Raihan took him outside for fresh air were dwindling further, leaving Hop to wonder if he would simply refuse to take him back out once winter came. There wouldn’t be much to see other than snow, after all, but Hop couldn’t help to sink into himself at the prospect of not getting to go outside for a while. It was almost scary how—Hop couldn’t even think of the right word to describe it, because it wasn’t as though he were comfortable here—fuck no, but he had definitively started slacking on his escape efforts. Maybe it was the combination of being locked up in a tower with only one exit, plus having Raihan’s Rotom watch his every movement should he dare try to steal that keycard. Hop hadn’t given up by any damn means, but he was growing frustrated at the fact he couldn’t catch a break with this shit. 

If nobody was going to come looking for him, if his own perverted brother had scrimped out on even giving an awareness announcement to be on the lookout, then it was clear now more than ever that Hop was on his own. If he didn’t figure out a way to escape, he would probably die here and that thought alone was enough to give him chills and upset his stomach. 

For now, he lay on the couch, propped up enough to watch television, but there was never anything remotely interesting on. Eventually, he dozed, having gotten warm and cozy with Goodra placing her head next to him for added warmth, until Hop fell asleep. There was no measure of time to tell how long he’d been out, but it must have been a few hours given how once Hop awoke, the apartment was dark, the tv being the only source of light in the room then. Goodra had moved her head away from his side at one point, leaving an empty, cold spot, but that’s not what roused Hop. 

In his groggy state, still coming to, Hop’s eyes fluttered open to reveal the smiling face of Raihan as he sat on his haunches, having dipped down until he was at face level. Normally, the sight of Raihan just _appearing_ with no warning would have been enough to send Hop’s heart skyrocketing out his chest in a panic, especially since he’d been vulnerable in his sleep, but that was another thing he had grown used to. Something he’d never think he’d have to _get used to,_ yet here he was, merely letting out a sleepy groan before rubbing his eyes. 

Raihan’s smile never faltered. “Hey, babe. Sleep well?” 

He hated it when he called him that, he _fucking hated it_ , because it never failed to send shameful heat straight to his face. Only in Past Hop’s wildest fantasies would Raihan call him pet names like that, when he could only dream about dating him, being in a relationship, but in this situation, completely at Raihan’s mercy, all Hop could do was cringe and feel stupid. To think he’d ever _liked him_ . What the fuck—he couldn’t help his brain going into hyperdrive with thoughts like that every time he laid eyes on him, because Hop couldn’t figure out what he _ever_ saw in Raihan. 

Yes, he was handsome, smart, funny, and to a young boy like Hop, that was all that mattered. All he saw was the front Raihan put on for him and everyone else, that he was the relaxed, unphasable gym leader, that he sometimes went wild in battle during the heat of the moment, but always came out with a smile on his face despite his losses against Leon. That was the Raihan Hop thought he fell in love with. 

How could he have known Raihan was capable of all the shit he’d put him through? Hop’s crush might have died down once Gloria came into the picture, but he wasn’t a fucking idiot. He knew she didn’t like him and never would. Hop _knew_ that, and he didn’t need Raihan rubbing it in his face, as much as he denied things and lied about his true feelings, Hop still had some pride left to hold onto. 

Sometimes—and he fucking hated himself for even entertaining this idea, but sometimes Hop wished Raihan had just _come to him_ before and admitted his feelings, if he even had them. He said he loved him, but after all he’d done, Hop couldn’t help to think it was purely physical. Raihan wanted his body, he’d already fucked him more times than Hop cared to keep count of, but—

He sighed to himself. His daydreams mocked him, the far-off fantasy of a world where Raihan confessed to him, because Hop would have been beside himself. He wouldn’t have believed it, such a cool older boy having a thing for him when he’d kept his crush buried as deep as it’d go. Now look at him. Stolen away, locked in a tower with a perverted piece of shit who only wanted his ass. 

Hop was so stupid. And just out of spite, he ignored Raihan’s question as he pushed himself off the couch, wiping the rest of the sleep from his face. 

“You hungry? A new place just opened up downtown. They sell hotdogs and stuff like that.” Raihan’s smile never wavered, even as Hop ignored him, yet he kept that chipper tone as though nothing was wrong. Like Hop was his boyfriend who came here willingly and slept over for a few hours. 

Yeah right. Hop scoffed to himself. In his fucking dreams maybe. 

It only served to hammer in the fact Raihan could be just as charismatic, likable, and charming at face value like his brother was in front of the paparazzi and cameras, all the while harboring this sick, twisted side of himself nobody would ever know about. Maybe that’s why nobody came looking for Hop. Raihan fed him lies about how nobody cared, but Hop didn’t believe that for a damn second. The more obvious reason was everybody trusted Raihan (Hop included once before), so for all Hop knew, he’d told his brother he ran away or something, and nobody was panicking since it wasn’t entirely unheard of for trainers to go off and do their own thing. Either that or Raihan had simply told them he was dead and they believed it. 

But he at least hoped Leon had enough sense to realize he would have _said_ something first before going off the grid. Not that Hop was even sure if he wanted Leon to rescue him anymore. The night Raihan showed him that video came crashing back and Hop visibly shivered at the horrible things his brother had confessed about him. Fucking perverts. Both Raihan and his brother. 

Hop’s mind was about a million miles away and he didn’t bother speaking to Raihan even when he’d sat himself up until he leaned back against the couch. Since time was of no importance anymore, Hop couldn’t say for sure how long he’d actually been stuck here, as the changing weather and occasional news from the telly was his only source to go off of, but it felt like he’d been living here for years, even though he knew it wasn’t true. It had been a month, two months at max if anything, but Raihan had definitely backed off him considerably after the last time they had sex (Hop shivered yet again at the thought of that word alone). Raihan had always been rather pushy, but Hop had noticed a stark hesitance when it came to intimacy lately. 

If he didn’t know better, it almost seemed like Raihan felt bad about the way he’d been treating him, and was going through extra hoops to try and be ‘nice’ to him. He hadn’t threatened him with drugs or anything like that, but it didn’t stop Hop from being uncomfortable around him, guard constantly up anytime he got handsy, because who was to say Raihan wouldn’t snap and just fuck Hop until he bled? He sure as fuck wasn’t about to get cozy with him just for Raihan to pull the rug from under his feet. 

That being said, anytime Raihan wanted to be intimate, he at least _asked_ , though the notion was completely useless because Hop’s answer was always the same. 

No. 

Fucking no. 

No, he didn’t want Raihan touching him. No, he didn’t want Raihan kissing his body, or his face, and no, he didn’t want Raihan to ‘make it up’ to him by offering to blow his dick as though that would magically make all this better somehow. 

It didn’t matter whether he asked or not, because it wasn’t like Hop had a say either way. Yeah, he asked, Hop said no every time, but Raihan insisted. _Incessantly_ insisted, pestering Hop to the point of insanity, and he couldn’t get away from him. No matter how many times he said no, Raihan wouldn’t let him have a moment of peace until Hop caved and said fine. So, didn’t that mean he consented? Was being pressured to say yes consent? Hop didn’t know. Either way, he felt like shit by the end of it, so it wasn’t as though it even mattered. 

Though Raihan had pushed him into intimacy the past several weeks, he hadn’t gone all the way since last time. As in—he hadn’t _fucked_ Hop. The intimate moments Hop was pushed into consisted of Raihan either blowing him, jacking them both off, or in rare cases, convincing Hop to just let him fuck himself between his thighs. A substitute for the real thing. 

In all honesty, Hop held onto the lingering fear that if he didn’t say yes to requests like these, Raihan would snap and drug him, or tie him up. He’d woken up blindfolded and bound, drugged to the point he had no idea what the fuck was going on, so he couldn’t put it past Raihan to stoop to those levels again, if it came to that. Hop wished he wouldn’t bother asking him, when it was such a superficial thing for Raihan to do. Because Hop’s answer didn’t matter. 

He didn’t want to be intimate with him. He didn’t want to be kissed, or touched, or sucked off—Hop never wanted any of it, but he gave in either out of fear Raihan would force something worse on him, or annoyance when Raihan pestered him until he got an okay. It was so stupid, but Hop had grown more irritated than anything with Raihan’s constant asking if he could touch him. 

He was wasting his breath. Hop wished he’d just do what he wanted rather than dangle the prospect of Hop having a say in the matter in front of his face when he was just going to do whatever the fuck he wanted regardless. It didn’t matter. Nothing fucking mattered, and the only way Hop felt he could bite back without angering Raihan was to ignore him, or at the very least, say as little as possible. 

Which is exactly what he did. 

With Hop having sat up against the couch, he barely gave Raihan a courtesy glance before staring off past his stupid head at the tv. The program had changed from news about the weather to a soap opera in the time Hop had been asleep and he absentmindedly gazed at the couple arguing on the screen. Raihan apparently picked up on the fact Hop was going out of his way to ignore him, as he lifted himself from his position, standing tall before stretching. 

“You been sleeping a lot lately. It’s almost night time now, did you know that? You’re not going to sleep at all later at this rate.”

Hop shrugged. No reply. Just the bare minimum effort of an acknowledgment. 

Raihan let out a sigh before stepping out of the way of the telly, instead sinking down onto the cushion next to Hop. He only shifted over to accommodate space for him. “You like hotdogs, right? It’s been a while we got trashy takeout. I’m always in the mood for greasy food, but I could get you an ice cream if you’d like.”

Another shrug. Hop wasn’t even hungry, and while he’d never turn his nose up at free ice cream, he still refused to give Raihan any more of his time than he had to. He didn’t deserve it.

Being so close to him once again, enough Hop could feel his body heat radiating off of him—he was only reminded over and over again that—

He still had feelings for Raihan. Just what those feelings were, Hop couldn’t even begin to explain. He felt so fucking horrible for still feeling the way he did, despite all Raihan had done to him, wondering whether it was all his fault to begin with, if anyone would even believe him if he cried for help, because what sane person had a crush on their kidnapper? What sane person _still_ harbored those feelings, even after everything that had happened? Hop felt so stupid, never in his life so confused about what he should do, because while he hated everything that was happening with every fiber of his being, he hated having sex, he hated the touching, the kissing, he hated Raihan’s threats, he hated not being allowed to communicate with anyone to let them know he was still alive, he hated knowing that his brother was probably a pervert too, he hated how nobody had come for him—

Despite that, despite all of it, Hop couldn’t lie to himself and say he _hated_ Raihan. He once swore with confidence that his crush had dissipated, but Hop couldn’t help to grow shy whenever Raihan was close. He hated what he’d done to him, holding him prisoner and all that, but Hop’s cheeks still burned in embarrassment just sitting next to him. Hop still got butterflies in his stomach whenever Raihan would smile at him. He still— _still_ wished the man would have just fucking said something to him, because Hop might have been here willingly if he had. Maybe that was his fault too, for never speaking up and admitting his feelings. 

But Hop figured Raihan could have cared less about him. He was always under the impression he liked his older brother. 

Those questions Raihan threw at him sometimes, trying to weasel the truth out about how Hop _must_ have looked at him once or twice, how there was no way Hop had never thought about Raihan—he was right. He couldn’t admit it, fearful for what Raihan might do to him if he ever found out Hop had liked him once. 

How Hop still... _still_ held onto feelings like that, though they were slim, barely a feeling to be had, but still there. He didn’t hate him. 

All the times Hop had been cold to him before, he was just shy, because he couldn’t believe Raihan would ever talk to him. When Raihan offered to buy him a celebratory coffee after their battle, Hop was secretly excited to be near him, but he put on an act, simply too shy, too embarrassed because the boy he used to pine for was finally speaking to him and smiling at him and…

Hop was garbage. He really was. How fucked up was it to sit here, stewing in the fact he couldn’t bring himself to hate Raihan, even after all that had happened? It wasn’t an excuse for his behavior. Hop never wanted things to be like this. He never wanted Raihan to force himself on him, but he just _fucking wished_ they could have had _something together._ Something soft. Something kind. Something slow. 

This was another level of fucked up. Raihan was a pervert, a criminal, and Hop couldn’t let go of his boyhood crush, even now. Maybe that made him guilty too. Did he even deserve to be saved if he still clung onto his feelings for Raihan like this? It was confusing, because Hop was angry. Angry at the situation, angry he hadn’t noticed before and saved himself, angry he had ever fallen in love with Raihan from the beginning, and fucking angry he couldn’t hate him after being forced into things Hop was nowhere near ready for. 

He just wanted to go home. Hop never wanted any of this to happen, even when his feelings became as muddled as they were, he was more frustrated at himself than anything. How could he sit here and still harbor romantic feelings for Raihan? It changed, of course it changed, Hop would never forgive him for what he’d done to him, for keeping him locked up like this, forcing him into dalliances Hop never consented to, or rather—consented to out of fear he’d be drugged, or killed even. Hop wanted out of this mess more than anything, to go home, to see his mother again, to see Gloria, because it didn’t matter whether she liked him or not, she was his friend and _he missed her_. He missed all of them. 

Yet all he could seem to feel right now was an overwhelming sense of guilt. Because he couldn’t completely hate Raihan, even now. Raihan didn’t deserve his affections and it wasn’t like Hop was going to suddenly throw himself at the man, but a small part of Hop cared, just a little. And he hated it. 

How could he ever think he deserved saving if he felt the way he did? People would blame him. Probably say he wanted to be whisked away to the castle, they’d say he wanted to sleep with Raihan, because Hop had been attracted to him before, so that meant he wanted all of this to happen, right? He didn’t fight harder to escape, because if he did, he would have been free by now. Hop could only blame himself for his passiveness—he had essentially given up trying to escape, because he didn’t know what the fuck to do. But maybe he was just lazy. 

Maybe he wanted to be here. 

Maybe he wanted to be with Raihan, locked away high in the tower, no longer having to worry about living up to Champion Leon’s godly standards. With Raihan, Hop didn’t have to be the best of the best, he could just be himself. 

His stomach cramped and threatened to make him sick as these thoughts buzzed in his head. What the fuck was _wrong with him?_

“Kid?” Raihan’s hand clasped the nape of his neck and he gave Hop a gentle squeeze, rousing him from his thoughts. His nausea must have been written on his face, because a quick glance at Raihan gave way to the concern as he rubbed the small spot of Hop’s neck. “You okay? You don’t look so good.” 

Nodding, Hop reached up, not so gently prying his hand away. He didn’t like being touched, no matter how innocent the gesture might have been. It made no sense considering how many times he had put his hands on him already and forced Hop into intimacy and sex, but he _hated_ being touched especially. “Fine.” 

“If you say so.” Judging by his tone alone, Hop knew he didn’t believe him, but at least he had the decency to drop the matter. “I’m about to head out, but…” There was an overly long pause between Raihan’s words, long enough Hop noticed and turned to face him for once. The moment he did, Raihan shot him an uncharacteristically shy smile. “Ah—” He looked thrown off, as was Hop. He couldn’t figure out why seeing Raihan act bashful rattled his nerves a thousand times more than when he acted as though kidnapping teenagers was an everyday occurrence for him. It put Hop on edge, and he visibly cringed, not meaning to. “Can I have a kiss before I go?” 

Admittedly, that wasn’t at all what Hop expected, having tensed when he feared Raihan might want to try to fuck him again, when he hadn’t done anything like that for a long time. Hop knew his days were numbered, eventually it would happen again, and he hated how sometimes he wished Raihan would just do it and get it over with. Not knowing when he’d force that on him, with or without threats, was enough to give Hop anxiety for the majority of his days. 

But, if all he wanted was a kiss, Hop sighed, more at himself. Before this entire mess, he would have been over the moon to be asked that, to have Raihan come to him and ask for a kiss, a simple kiss, but now something he used to fantasize about had become a living nightmare and he knew if he rejected him, Raihan would only push until Hop gave in. There wasn’t much point in fighting anymore. Raihan would get his way eventually, and Hop’s protests were merely delaying the inevitable. 

“...fine.” 

No sooner had he said that, than Raihan was upon him, causing Hop to seize up again when he grabbed his face with both hands, pulling until Hop faced him. One glance at his glazed eyes was all Hop needed to see before he turned his focus elsewhere. He couldn’t bear to look at him during times like these, too ashamed at himself, too angry at himself for still feeling that flutter of his heart, the nerves bundling straight down in his stomach until he thought he might throw up. 

This was so fucked up. Hop shouldn’t have been acting shy when Raihan wanted to kiss, but he couldn’t help it. He still liked him. And he _hated it._ It’d be so much easier to call Raihan trash and hate his guts, yet Hop couldn’t bring himself to do that. His heart sank when Raihan, barely giving him more than a soft smile, leaned in to kiss him on the mouth. 

Hop was just as much to blame for this if he couldn’t get rid of these feelings. Raihan was in the wrong, he knew it, but he still couldn’t let go of his crush, even now. Fuck it—fuck this entire thing. Hop almost wanted to cry out of frustration, because he wanted to hate Raihan so much. He wanted to. He wanted to hate him, but he just fucking _couldn’t._ That meant Hop was to blame for this entire mess as well. If he couldn’t even shake his crush, even now, if those feelings hadn’t disappeared completely, how in the _fuck_ did he even have the gall to think he deserved to be saved? 

People would talk. 

They would blame him. 

_But you were in love with him, so how come you didn’t want this?_ Hop could already hear the jeers and mocking comments. _You thought he was cool. You thought he was handsome. You wanted so badly to be a couple with him, even though he thought nothing of you at all._

Raihan’s eyes lidded when he deepened the kiss, and Hop had to suppress the moan that threatened to claw out from the back of his throat. He hated that worst of all. The constant back and forth he did with himself when Raihan kissed him. It was disgusting, invading, way too much contact Hop wasn’t used to, yet his feelings for Raihan were only ignited through the action alone. 

Hop wanted to kiss back sometimes. But he also wanted to throw Raihan off him, slap his face, because how could he do this to him? How could he play with Hop’s emotions like this to the point he questioned his own sanity when something awful had happened to him, yet he remained incapable of letting go of his feelings. He hated it so fucking much that he sometimes wished Raihan had killed him, just use him for what he was good for—a fuck toy—and get rid of him. Bury his stupid body somewhere in the outskirts of Hammerlocke. Hop didn’t fucking care anymore. 

But he wished Raihan would quit saying he loved him. 

It hurt. 

It hurt so much when it was something Hop could only dream of hearing from him back in the day. It hurt because Hop wanted to return that love so much, he wanted to be here willingly, making out with Raihan on the sofa, he wanted to touch him, kiss him, grab dinner with him, eat ice cream together, and go on dates. 

But he couldn’t. Not anymore. Not when Raihan only used him, locked him away and refused to let him see his family, not after the threats, the drugs, the lies and lengths Raihan went through to ensure Hop stayed right here. He was crazy, Hop knew he was, and it hurt to think the person he fell in love with was capable of things like this. This wasn’t the Raihan Hop loved. This wasn’t the cool older boy he crushed on as a child. 

This wasn’t the Raihan he _knew_. 

One of Raihan’s palms slid under the hem of Hop’s shirt and he cringed at the feeling of his cold hand sliding up his back. It was enough to give Hop shivers and he did just that, trembling as Raihan continued kissing him. He’d been on the receiving end of Raihan’s eagerness before, but at least Hop could say he was gentle now. He didn’t shove his tongue between his teeth or demand Hop do anything in return, even as his hand snaked up the back of his shirt, all he did was simply pinch a small patch of Hop’s back fat, snickering into his mouth. At that, Raihan ended the kiss, the smile never leaving his face, though Hop had long focused his gaze elsewhere during all that. 

“You’re gaining some weight finally.” 

Hop’s cheeks rose with heat. 

“Don’t be embarrassed, it’s a good thing. You’re way too scrawny, kid. It’d be nice to grab your ass for once and actually feel it, you know?” 

Visibly shaken by that remark, Hop could only turn his attention back to the television where a bunch of adverts were playing. Something about a new app that taught children how to brush their teeth or something other. Hop wasn’t paying it any mind, trying not to give Raihan too much of his time and wishing he’d just leave already. Against his own annoyances and how much he didn’t want to give in, Hop really did want ice cream now. 

“Hey, kid, lemme ask you something.”

Oh fuck, whatever Raihan had up his sleeve couldn’t have been anything good, and Hop tensed in preparation for what would no doubt be Raihan’s way of ‘politely’ asking him for sex. It wasn’t like Hop could say no to him. Well, he could, but Raihan would just threaten him, so there was no point in even asking in the first place. Without realizing, Hop had grabbed a fistful of his trousers, squeezing and only noticing once his nails started digging into his palm. 

“Don’t be scared, Hop, it’s nothing bad, I swear.” Ugh, Hop hated how perceptive Raihan could be. He noticed his body language alone, something that made it even more difficult for Hop to be able to plan an escape. It was always like Raihan was one step ahead of him, him and his stupid phone, and he felt like he couldn’t hide anything from him, not even his emotions. Which gave way to the terrifying thought of Raihan ever finding out Hop kinda sorta had feelings for him. What the hell did he do if that ever came out? Hop may as well dig his own grave in the outskirts of Hammerlocke, because he was as good as dead. 

With that said, it did nothing for Hop’s anxiety, his nerves already rattled, and when Raihan reached over to gently cup his hand, giving him a squeeze of reassurance, Hop tried his best to allow the gesture to calm him down, even though it was impossible. 

“Hop.” Raihan leaned down right next to his face, planting a small kiss to his cheek. “Do you wanna fuck me?”

Instantly, Hop’s entire body stiffened until he froze where he sat, his heart feeling like it wasn’t even pounding anymore. He stared straight at the television, absorbing not an ounce of information from it, because his brain went offline. If Raihan wanted to fuck, there wasn’t a damn thing Hop could do to stop it and he _hated_ when he teased him with a choice. There was no choice. Not for Hop. 

Before he could shake his head, already preparing himself for the begging and pleading that was to come until Raihan got him to agree, he was cut off. 

“I don’t mean like what we’ve done before, I mean like…” He trailed off, laughing through his nose before giving Hop another, smaller kiss on his jaw. “I want you to go inside of me this time.”

“No.” Hop’s own voice sprang to life before the rest of him did, startling himself out of his own shock, but he’d turned away from the tv, heartbeat starting to rise. 

Raihan blinked in surprise, apparently not expecting to be rejected so quickly, but he recovered just as fast, his smile turning to a wide grin. “Come on, baby, it’d be easier on you. I wouldn’t be the one on top having to make you uncomfortable and everything. You can’t hurt me, Hop, you don’t even have to use lube if you don’t want. You don’t even have to prepare me. I mean, I can do that myself anyway.”

Cold sweat formed until Hop was shaking, his hair standing on end all over his body. It got incredibly cold all of a sudden. 

Raihan kept on. “We can do it in any position you want. You can do _whatever you want_ , kid, I really don’t mind at all. I’ll love whatever you’d want to do, even if you want to lie there so I can straddle you, I’ll do it.”

Shit, he just wasn’t stopping, and it was all Hop could do to sit there and listen to this madness while Raihan prattled on and on, Hop’s throat growing tighter with every word, his stomach cramping up into twisted knots until he finally managed to open his mouth and spout, “N-no, I—I don’t wanna do that.” 

The frown Raihan made caused Hop to freeze, worried he had angered him, but he merely cocked his head to the side as though misunderstanding. “Why not? Wouldn’t it make you feel better to have some control over it and fuck me? You wouldn’t be lyin’ there or nothing—I mean, unless you want to, I’ll accommodate you.”

The heat packed into his cheeks only grew until Hop was sure an egg could be fried on his face by now. His palms were shaking and he did all he could to keep his composure. “I don’t want to.”

“So you just like having your ass fucked, is that it?”

Hop’s head shot straight up, sure that not only was his face red, but probably his entire body as well. Raihan’s frown rose into a half-smirk, and Hop sputtered over his words, trying to get something out. “N-no! I-I don’t like that either!” 

“I mean, the times I’ve heard you scream because you came so hard suggest otherwise, but whatever you say, kid.” He then leaned forward, right into Hop’s face, and he all but turned into a statue at that point, too afraid to move when Raihan sneered at him, his eyes glinting with an underlying hungriness Hop wished wasn’t there. He gently squeezed his hand again. “Come on, it’ll be fun. You can do your own thing for once. I’m not asking you to prepare me, believe me kid, no offense or nothing, but I doubt I’ll need it with you, and even if I did, I like it rough. You can do whatever you want to me, even hit me. You wanna slap me? Go for it, I won’t get mad—it’d be so hot.” 

It felt as though every inch of Hop’s body was shrinking under that gaze, until he wished he could crawl in a hole somewhere to get away from it. 

“You haven’t gotten a turn, and it’s probably no fun always lying there being the one to take it, so I’m tellin’ you, kid, let’s do it. It won’t matter how bad you are at it, if you just wanna get off inside me, I’ll still love it. You can do whatever you want to me, I’ll lie there and take it, I promise.” 

Before he could stop himself, Hop yanked his hand free from Raihan’s grasp, shoving his palm against his chest to try and create more distance between them. His brows arched as he glared, and his voice was a shaking mess when he finally spoke. “I _don’t. Want. To fuck you, Raihan._ I’m not interested. I-I’m not comfortable with it—s-so shove off.” 

“You don’t know that you’ll hate it unless you try, Hop. I’m not going to make fun of you or anything if you’re afraid of that. I can lead if you’re shy, but all you’d have to do is fuck me—that’s it.”

The longer he went on, the more Hop’s stomach threatened to upchuck acid at the mere sound of these words. He never took Raihan to be a person like this, and Hop couldn’t have been more embarrassed sitting there having someone beg him to fuck them than he was now, but all he could do was weakly protest. Because if Raihan wanted this, Hop would have no choice. 

“I-I don’t care about any of that, I’m not interested.”

“Just try it.”

“No.”

“Babe, please? We’ll go slow about it, I promise.”

“I said _no_.” 

“You don’t have to watch if you don’t want to, you can shove it in and close your eyes.”

Heat traveled down way past Hop’s neck and he was about to cry in frustration that Raihan kept pressuring him into something so fucking depraved. “Dammit, Raihan, I _said no!_ ” He just wanted to be left alone—why couldn’t Raihan just leave him be?

“Hop.” Again, Raihan reached over to clutch his hand, cupping Hop’s palm in his own. He tried to pull back, but Raihan gripped him tight to stop that from happening. “Hop, _I swear, baby,_ I won’t hurt you. I’m not going to do anything bad. I’m not going to make fun of you for not knowing what to do. I’ll help you.” He lifted Hop’s hand, giving a chaste kiss to his knuckles. “I’ll teach you.”

Try as he might to jerk his hand out of Raihan’s grip, Hop’s efforts were pointless and he could only nervously stare at the space behind Raihan’s head to avoid eye contact. “Is all you fucking think about is sex? I don’t want you to teach me any of this creepy shit—I just want you to leave me alone.”

At that, Raihan actually released his hand, and Hop caught a glance of the incredulous expression on his face, as though it really never occurred to him how one-tracked his mind was. “I mean...no. Is that why you’re upset? You wanna be wined and dined first, right?”

Holy fuck, it was like talking to a goddamn brick wall. Hop shook his head, throwing his hands up in exasperation. “Leave me _alone_. Get away from me already.” 

“Okay.” Without warning, Raihan lifted from the couch, almost causing Hop to jump back when he didn’t expect the sudden movement, having just expected Raihan to resort to his threats or whatever, but he straightened his back when he stood, and Hop couldn’t help but notice the small smile he shot him. “Let me go get some food then we can talk about this when I get back. If you’re scared—don’t be, babe. You won’t have to do a thing. I’ll make sure you’re all taken care of, okay? Just sit tight, it won’t take me long.” And with that, without even waiting for a reply, Raihan turned heel and exited the room, Hop able to hear his stupid loud footsteps even when he descended to the entryway and was out the door. 

The silence of the apartment was suffocating to say the least, Hop struggling to catch his breath as though he were drowning in water. The gravity of the situation was slowly catching up to him, his heart pounding in response to the fact—Raihan was about to force him into more situations he didn’t want any part of. He would make Hop go inside this time, and while Hop didn’t have to subjugate himself to being flattened on the bed for once in his life, the thought terrified him. He’d never done anything like this, he’d never gone out with anyone before (having used to hope Raihan would be his first), but these types of things Raihan asked of him—Hop’s throat tightened and before he knew it, he’d stood from his spot on the sofa. 

His palms shaking, knees knobby, it was all Hop could do not to break down crying right then and there. The fact of the matter was, no matter how much he didn’t want it, it was something that was going to happen regardless, and he didn’t know how the fuck to deal with it. Raihan was so carefree, acting as if Hop would enjoy himself, like this was a fun thing the two of them did all the time, but Hop was trembling, fighting to catch his breath. He was just short of hyperventilating, because _what the fuck did he do?_ The reality was—nothing. There wasn’t a damn thing Hop could do to stop this. He’d already spent hours of agonizingly slow time trying to figure a way out of things like this, wondering what he could say or do to make Raihan take a fucking no for an answer for once, but nothing he did ever worked. Hop could argue, he could fight, he could plead, he could try playing whatever sympathy Raihan had left, if any, but nothing worked. 

This was going to happen whether he liked it or not, and Hop’s heart was racing. At least Raihan had said he wouldn’t have to look at him. Hop fully intended to close his eyes if this was how Raihan intended their evening to go, and he hated that the only thing he could do was grit his teeth until it was all over. 

Try as he might, he willed his heartbeat to steady, trying to shake the nerves from his limbs as he wandered around the living room. The telly still droned on with the soap opera, but Hop stopped by the bookshelf, flitting through the volumes of random encyclopedias, fantasy novels, and the like. He wasn’t actually interested in reading, but if he didn’t occupy his brain with something right now, he’d have a breakdown, and he really didn’t want to be crying when Raihan got back. He was twice as annoying when Hop was upset, giving him fake comfort and fake coddling. 

It never made Hop feel any better, because if Raihan truly felt bad for putting him through this, he wouldn’t have done it in the first place. Hop wouldn’t even be here. 

Eventually, Hop abandoned the bookshelves and picked up the DS from where it had somehow fallen between the couch cushions. He flipped it open and resumed the game he’d been playing earlier that day, figuring level grinding his characters was as good a distraction as any. It was one of those long-winded rpg games that took forever to level up, and Hop had spent the better part of the past several weeks playing on and off when he was bored, which ended up being more often than not. 

Eventually, right as Hop was struggling to keep his healer alive, the front door opened, signaling Raihan’s return, and Hop’s blood ran cold at the sound of his heavy ass footsteps trudging up the stairs. Hop quickly paused his game, slamming the DS closed, and chucked it across the couch, the bile threatening to rise in his stomach. He wasn’t sure if he could stomach any food right now, but when Raihan entered the kitchen, calling out for him that food was here, Hop forced himself up from the couch, trying to compose his nerves before he exited the living room and made way for the kitchen. 

The table was covered with takeout bags, and the heavy scent of cooked meat and fries was evident the second Hop poked his head through the entryway. Raihan gave him a huge grin, gesturing him over as he fished burgers and hotdogs from the bags. “I got you an ice cream.” On cue, he pulled a cup with a straw out from behind a bag, handing it off to Hop. Honestly, Hop’s anxiety had already peaked by this point, and he immediately slurped some of the chocolate from the straw, hoping it would give him some comfort at the very least. The sweetness coated his tongue, hitting the back of his throat, and Hop reveled every second of it. 

“Don’t spoil your appetite, babe. At least eat some fries.”

Hop felt the need to snap back he was allowed to eat whatever fucking shit he wanted since Raihan was being such a bastard, but he bit his tongue, taking a huge sip of his milkshake more out of spite in lieu of a response. The cramping in his stomach dulled somewhat now that he was actually eating something, but when Raihan offered him a hotdog, Hop had to refuse. No, no meat right now. His stomach couldn’t take it. 

At least the sweetness of the milkshake was somewhat soothing. 

The pair ate in relative silence at the table—well, Raihan ate. Hop’s nausea threatened to kick into gear as he focused all his attention on his ice cream and not how Raihan was devouring his hamburger. He ate like he hadn’t had a decent meal in days, and Hop had a sneaking suspicion Raihan was rushing through dinner in order to spring the conversation from earlier back on him. 

Hop’s fries and hotdog sat untouched off to the side, and by the time Raihan had eaten his full, Hop was over halfway done with his ice cream. The brain freeze it gave him was welcoming to say the least, and despite how Raihan pushed him to eat something with more substance, Hop just couldn’t handle a full meal right now. His heart was pounding again, now that Raihan had stood from the table, disposing of the trash in the nearby bin, before turning back around to give Hop a smile. 

“So what do you think?” 

His throat tightened and now the milkshake was pushed away, Hop no longer able to even take that. He didn’t respond, but rather picked at his nails. He knew what Raihan was trying to ask and there was no way Hop could just...say anything to that. 

“You don’t have to be nervous.”

Hop sighed, not able to help himself. “That ship sailed a long time ago.” He’d meant to say that with way more spite in his tone, but it only sounded as though he were utterly exhausted, and really, that wasn’t an understatement by any means. 

“I’ll help you, Hop. It’s not scary. You might find out you like it.”

Hop stifled a biting laugh. There was no scenario on earth where he envisioned himself enjoying any of this with Raihan. Not now. Not anymore. Those thoughts only depressed him when Hop’s daydreams ran off on him, because there used to be a time he fantasized about this, but being thrown headfirst into it when he wasn’t ready had left him shaken and confused. 

He just didn’t want to do this. Plain and simple. Those fantasies of dating Raihan when he’d been younger had been torn to shreds, and he couldn’t help but feel so stupid, so unprepared for any of this. How were you supposed to feel when the person you fell in love with did horrible things to you? Hop never wanted this. Never in his wildest dreams could he have predicted this was where his life was headed—held captive in the tower, but he was here now. Here indefinitely. 

That thought depressed him even more. 

When Raihan moved into him, closing the distance between the two, Hop initially stiffened out of instinct, growing rigid before Raihan merely bent down to reach his face before pressing a small kiss against his cheek. 

“You’re going to be just fine, Hop. I’ll help you. I’ll lead you. It’s nothing scary, you won’t be lying down underneath me this time. You can go at your own pace—even if you fumble, don’t be embarrassed.”

Hop’s palms trembled, yet he could do nothing to stop them even when Raihan planted another kiss, this time on his jaw. He spoke as he peppered them against his face, each time growing closer and closer to his mouth. 

“Just relax and enjoy yourself. I won’t tease you. I won’t laugh at you. If you’re scared you might hurt me, I promise you that you won’t. This ain’t my first time being railed, kid.”

Whatever compelled Raihan to tell him these things as reassurance, Hop would never know, because it didn’t make him feel better at all. It was only hammering in the fact that even if he said no, no matter how much he protested, Raihan was going to get his way. Hop had no fucking choice in the matter. 

It was going to happen. 

Raihan kissed his mouth, Hop barely feeling the brush of his soft lips against his own. “You can do this, baby. I’ll be right here with you. Don’t be scared.”

Hop’s breath turned shallow. 

It was going to happen. 

This was happening and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to stop it. Raihan might drug him again. He might tie him up, do something much worse to him that Hop didn’t even want to think about. This tenderness he was displaying was all fake, just a ploy to make out as though Hop had a say when they both knew damn well he didn’t. 

Hop was scared. 

Raihan kissed his mouth again, his words sounding strangely far off, as though Hop’s head was submerged underwater. “I love you. It’ll be okay. Come on—” With a slow movement Hop didn’t notice until his wrist was lifted up, Raihan grabbed hold of him, smiling, before leading him out of the kitchen. 

It was as though Hop’s feet were trudging through mud. Each step was an obstacle Hop was forced to overcome as though weights had been shackled to his ankles. Raihan walked with slow, deliberate steps, but Hop followed silently behind, his heart threatening to pound straight out his chest at any given moment. To say he was stunned was underselling it. Hop didn’t know what he felt. Obligation? Fear? Maybe a combination of all sorts of things muddied together. 

It was both as though hours had passed and like it had taken mere seconds when Hop lifted his head to see Raihan had led them to his bedroom. Closing the door behind them, Raihan released Hop’s wrist to cross the room, flick the bedside lamp on, and turn to give him a half smile. Reaching out, he gestured for Hop to come, and he froze for a moment, cold sweat prickling his neck and forehead. Maybe the shock hadn’t quite worn off yet, but there wasn’t much Hop could do. His face was heated, cheeks no doubt red to show his shame for Raihan to see, and he took a deep breath, trying to prepare himself, even though nothing could prepare him for this, before he crossed the room, taking Raihan’s hand. 

It was much easier just to let it happen. Because even if he said no, if he decided to try and fight his way out, there was no telling what Raihan might do. Maybe he’d kill him. Fuck all the romance talk and whatnot, Hop didn’t trust him—couldn’t trust him after all that had happened. 

Raihan linked their fingers together, practically swallowing Hop’s hand whole with his palm. He offered another soft smile, but Hop couldn’t smile back. His heart was heavy, stomach churning with nausea, but also fluttering at the initial reaction of having touched someone he used to love so softly. This was fucked up on so many levels, and it was taking all Hop’s willpower not to break down into hysterics. How could he ever look at himself in the mirror again when he had the nerve to still like Raihan after all he’d done? After all the hell he’d put Hop through? 

Sometimes Hop wished he could hate him. Other times—he wanted to say he loved him. Maybe out of the need to simply feel a positive emotion for once, as Hop was so tired of being angry, being frustrated, being scared. He wanted to love Raihan. 

He wanted...to _love him._

Raihan’s voice brought him back to reality when he moved into him, burying his face into the crook of Hop’s neck. “Mmm...you always smell so good, Hop. Can’t get enough of you.” 

Hop wished he could say the same, but Raihan tended to smell like cigarettes and smoke more often than not, which didn’t create a very pleasant scent, but it’d become something Hop associated him with. Maybe it was about the association and not the smell itself. Hop didn’t know, but he stood there, shivering each time Raihan planted a kiss to his neck, trailing down to the arch of his shoulder. Often, Raihan would get carried away, creating hickies that refused to disappear for weeks at a time, and Hop had been mortified the last time he saw himself in the mirror to see bruises still lining his neck after a whole week since they’d been put there. 

Raihan was nothing if not efficient. Leaving constant reminders of their nights together was intentional, Hop knew, and he’d come to avoid his own reflection in the mirror anytime he’d go to the bathroom. Raihan was never rough, but the goddamn bruises just never _went away._ Once they’d start turning yellow, Raihan always sucked a fresh batch that were purple and blue for days. It wasn’t like it was painful, but—Hop hated seeing them. To any outsider’s view, it was obvious what they were, obvious what Hop had let happen to him, and he couldn’t help to cringe as Raihan continued holding his hand, sucking his shoulder, his neck, licking the spots each time he’d suck until Hop was grimacing by this point. 

“You’re okay, Hop.” The constant affirmations didn’t do a damn bit of good, but there wasn’t much Hop could do other than sit there and wait for it to be over. Raihan would get his full eventually, and eventually, Hop would be at his mercy. The fact he wanted to drag this out only intensified Hop’s already rattled nerves, and he wished the man would just fucking get it over with already and stop teasing him. But, whatever Raihan wanted, Raihan got. 

As if reading his mind, Raihan then broke away from his assault on Hop’s neck, leaving the spot glistening from his excitement, and tender to the touch. With a small laugh through his nose, Raihan straightened himself up before side-stepping out of the way of the bed, and extended his arm for Hop in a gesture that was meant for him to take a seat. Though heart pounding, more cold sweat accumulating in droves, Hop wasn’t sure what to expect, wondering why Raihan wanted him to sit down when he’d...well. When Raihan wanted him to do other things. 

“Don’t be scared, babe. Just wanna help you get started is all.”

What the hell did that mean? Not bothering to ask, because Hop would find out sooner or later regardless, he simply swallowed the lump in his throat before seating himself on the bed, the creak of the mattress somehow sounding so loud, despite it being only a small noise. Now sitting, Hop felt even more scrutinized under Raihan’s gaze, and averted his eyes accordingly. 

“Don’t be nervous. Just relax.” Easy for him to fucking say. Hop almost wanted to bite back, but held his tongue, wanting this to be over as soon as possible. The more he argued, the more he drew this out, so it was better to stay quiet and do as he was told. 

With slow, almost tentative movements, Raihan crouched down until he was on his knees, right in front of Hop. He offered a smile Hop almost didn’t catch as he was trying desperately to stare at anything else other than Raihan’s face, but there was no way he could completely avoid that hungry look tossed his way. It made his stomach churn. 

Reaching over, Raihan took Hop’s hand in his own once more before planting a kiss to his knuckles. “I’m here to help you, Hop. You don’t have to impress me or anything, you don’t have to worry about anything, because I’m going to take good care of you, got it? All you gotta do is enjoy it.”

How could Hop possibly enjoy this when—he blinked, mentally shaking away all of those thoughts. Not now. Don’t think too hard about it now. All he had to do was grit his teeth, suck it up, and get it over with as soon as possible. He could worry about freaking out later, but now—

Releasing his hand which fell to his side, Raihan positioned himself until he was sitting on his knees before he reached down toward Hop’s sweatpants, tugging at the drawstring to undo the knot. Hop’s breath hitched in his throat, heart pounding, threatening to burst out his chest, but he held himself. No noise. No movement. Just fucking get it over with. It’ll be over faster if he just sat here and took it.

The knot was undone, and Raihan tugged, until Hop felt the tightness around his waist give way. Raihan wasted no more time in bunching the waistband down toward his hips. He lifted his head only to shoot Hop a smile. “Work with me, babe.”

Without protest, without even batting an eye, Hop lifted his legs, Raihan pulling him up by the backs of his knees until his butt lifted off the bed just enough to allow Raihan to roll his sweatpants down his legs. With Hop left only in his underwear, it was a familiar scene, being displayed before Raihan as he was, but though familiar, it wasn’t one Hop was used to, even after all this time. 

How long had he been stuck in the tower again? A month? No—two months. The seasons were changing. It was getting colder, so it was much longer than that even. Hop swallowed, trying to wrack his brain with useless thoughts while Raihan gripped the edges of his underwear, gently pulling them down his legs as Hop maneuvered in order to get them off until he was completely naked from the waist down. It felt much colder in Raihan’s room than it probably was, but that could’ve been attested to Hop’s nerves. He’d fallen stiff, too afraid to move, too afraid to say or do anything, and his body was fighting hard not to explode into a panic like it really wanted to. He was just shy of drawing his legs back and kicking Raihan square in the face to get him off, but where the fuck did Hop think he would run if he did that? 

Raihan was bigger. Faster. Stronger. 

Even if Hop ran, there was no fucking way he could run from him forever. There was nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide. There was little Hop could do but sit there and remember to breathe, even as Raihan placed his palm against his thigh, giving a gentle squeeze. 

“You’re doing good, Hop, don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine. I’m not gonna hurt you—I love you.” 

_Please don’t say that._

_Please stop saying that._

Hop closed his eyes, his chest tight, his heart aching at the sound of those words. 

It hurt. It hurt so much to hear something he could only dream about, something he longed for—but now it was only a mockery of the real thing. This wasn’t love. 

Before Hop could stop himself, before he could even think to shut his brain off long enough to not open his mouth, he spat out, “I-If you loved me, y-you’d let me go,” before remembering he was supposed to be silent. 

Immediately, Raihan stopped what he was doing, eyes locked straight onto Hop’s when he lifted his gaze, his hands that were tugging at the hem of Hop’s shirt to lift it up over his head now frozen, and Hop worried for a horrifying, terrifying moment that he’d made him angry. There was nothing to stop Raihan from getting physical with him if he so chose. If Raihan wanted, he could kill him with his bare hands, reach out and choke the life from Hop, and there wasn’t a damn thing Hop could do to fight him off. He didn’t need to go the extra mile with the drugs and threats. Raihan had every opportunity to off Hop right now if he wanted. 

The two stared at each other for what felt like hours, and Hop cursed himself for opening his fucking mouth, as Raihan didn’t say anything for a while, until an uncomfortable silence swelled in the room. With a heavy sigh, Raihan nodded before relaxing his shoulders, giving Hop the impression he wasn’t mad, but just tired. He wasn’t about to let his guard down, though, and Hop remained vigilant, even as Raihan’s eyes softened and his mouth curled into a smile. 

“I’m keeping you here with me _because_ I love you, Hop. You don’t understand now, but you will one day.” He bit his bottom lip, looking oddly shy when he did so, and Hop hated himself for thinking it looked rather adorable. No, _fuck that_ —nothing about this man was adorable. He had to bury his crush—he fucking _had to._ He wanted to hate him. “There’s actually something I’ve been meaning to talk with you about, but it can wait until later.” With another sigh, Raihan gave Hop a toothy grin before continuing his work, as though nothing had happened. 

Hop supposed he should’ve been grateful he hadn’t made him angry, but when Raihan tugged his shirt up and over his head, rendering Hop completely naked by this point, any prior relief he might have felt flew out the window. Raihan lifted up off his knees just enough he was leveled with Hop’s face before leaning in and planting a kiss against his mouth. Once again, Hop receded into himself, trying to remember to stay fucking quiet this time so that this wasn’t dragged out any longer than it had to be. He didn’t know what the hell compelled him to say that earlier, but it hadn’t pissed off Raihan, so he could only focus on not leaning backward while he was kissed. There was no use in causing anymore unnecessary strain than there already was, so Hop did his best to sit quietly through the kiss. 

“Mmm—kid.” Not expecting it, Hop froze when Raihan pulled back suddenly, his mouth curled into a half-smirk. “You ain’t gotta be so stiff about it. It’s just a kiss. How many times have we kissed now?”

Way too damn many for Hop to keep track of, but he didn’t dare say that. 

It wasn’t like Raihan was expecting a response, though. “You don’t have to cringe like that, though you’re probably just nervous, aren’t you?” That wasn’t a lie. Hop would never admit that it wasn’t. Raihan just smiled, apparently pleased with this one-sided conversation enough to lean away from Hop and settle back down on his knees. “It’s nothing to be scared of, but I said I’d get you started, so I’d better hold up my end of the bargain, right?”

Hop shivered, but said nothing. He could only imagine what Raihan meant by getting him started, but it wasn’t a moment later that he bent over, until Raihan placed his face right near Hop’s crotch, so close that he could feel the breath from his nose against his dick, and Hop couldn’t help the quakes that ran through his whole body, causing him to vibrate on the bed. 

Oh...that’s what he meant. 

“Don’t be nervous, babe. It’s all going to be okay.” 

Like Hop had much of a choice by this point. He could only cringe, turn his head to the side, and close his eyes when not soon after, the warmth and moistness of Raihan’s tongue dragged up his length, and he grunted, face on fire by the initial contact. It was so embarrassing how Raihan could make Hop weak without barely doing a damn thing, and he wondered why on fucking earth he wanted him to go inside this time. What made Raihan think Hop was capable of doing shit like this? What made him think Hop would have the stamina to last long enough to do anything like that for him? What did Raihan get out of this, other than humiliating Hop with the inevitable truth that he would awkwardly fuck into him without a clue as to what he was doing. Did he just want to shove it in his face how powerless he was? How stupid he was? 

Hop’s eyes lined with tears, even as he slammed them shut, fighting not to cry, even as Raihan reached up to grip the base of his cock to keep himself steady as he lowered his entire mouth over him, and Hop wanted to moan at the pleasure it was already creating. He’d just started. And Hop could feel the way his body was betraying him, the way it wanted to thrust into him so badly right now—and Hop wanted to. He wanted to enjoy this. He wanted to enjoy Raihan, he wanted—

He wanted to _go home_. 

He wanted to hate him. 

He wanted to hate Raihan with his entire body, he wanted to scream at him, why, why, why, why, _whywhywhy_ was he fucking doing this to him? Why did he have to break his heart and make Hop feel stupid for having ever liked him before? Why did he have to be a fucking pervert—a creep—a criminal—a kidnapper—a _rapist_ —why the fuck did Raihan have to be all these awful things when Hop only wanted to love him? Why did he _still_ love him? Why did Hop still fucking— _fucking_ —love him after everything that was happening? 

Look what he was doing to him right now. Raihan had Hop at his mercy, blowing his cock while Hop could only look away and pinch his eyes shut—he could only wait for it to be over, he could only blame himself for the mess he was in. Nobody would ever take his side if they found out he’d loved Raihan, that he still loved him, that he couldn’t bring himself to hate him, even now. 

Hop couldn’t hate him. 

He couldn’t. 

_He couldn’t._

He didn’t want to—he fucking _couldn’t._ But he was so fucking ashamed of himself for not being able to. What kind of sick person was he to pray for rescue that wasn’t coming, to think anyone out there gave a single shit about him, what kind of sick individual was Hop to think he deserved saving when he couldn’t even bring himself to just fucking _hate_ this person? What was wrong with him? Hop was the one fucked up in the head, not Raihan. Raihan was—he was just—he…

A sob bubbled in his throat, but Hop bit it down, thrusting up into Raihan’s mouth as he sucked on him, lathering his tongue over the tip of his cock, and Hop swallowed the moans, heat gushing out his face. It always felt so good when Raihan did this, and Hop hated that it felt good. Maybe he could hate him if Raihan just let loose and beat the hell out of him once in a while. Maybe it would be easier to demonize his kidnapper if his kidnapper just hated his guts. To say he loved him with such sincerity, when Hop himself was battling those emotions, wanting to be rid of them, wanting to purge them, but still clinging onto them for some godforsaken reason he couldn’t even understand, and it hurt.

It broke his heart. 

Why was Raihan doing this? Hop just wanted to go home. He didn’t want to be here. 

He wanted—

Another thrust, and Raihan hummed against him, until Hop could feel it growing hard against his mouth, and he bit the blood from his bottom lip to hold back the moans. It was so good—he hated that it was good. He hated that his body wanted this. 

And Hop wanted...Hop just wanted the old Raihan. The one he fell in love with from the beginning. Hop wanted those fantasies where the two of them had innocent dates, got to know each other, Hop would act shy around him, because this was still his brother’s rival, and he didn’t want to be accused of rooting for the other team. He didn’t know what to expect of his mum finding out he was dating an older man, much less his older brother’s best friend. He was so unsure of everything, only positive of his feelings, and his feelings for Raihan could have been considered surface level. 

_Hop thought he was handsome._

Raihan licked the tip of his cock until precum leaked out, and Hop couldn’t muffle his moans anymore when he thrusted into him, eager to come now, so overwhelmed with stimulation and emotion that he didn’t know whether to cry or moan in pleasure. 

_Hop thought he was cool._

Raihan lifted away from him, a thin line of saliva and cum connected from his lips to the tip of Hop’s cock, and he almost whined when that wonderful itching sensation was suddenly taken away from him. Why would Raihan deny him orgasm? 

_Hop thought he was so much smarter than everyone._

_Hop thought the two of them could be together, he thought they could go out to cafes, hold hands, travel the expanse of Galar together._

“Sorry, kid.” The heat rushed from Hop’s face when he finally opened his eyes to blink the tears away, his vision blurry, but he could make out Raihan’s grin with utmost clarity. “I just need you hard right now. You can handle the rest by yourself.” With that, Raihan took Hop’s arm, lifting him from the bed, and his erect dick was embarrassing in itself to the point Hop felt the need to hide it, but he didn’t dare move when Raihan switched their positions. Dropping his shorts to the ground, Raihan didn’t waste any time on himself when he discarded his underwear, his shirt, until he was naked. He took Hop’s spot on the bed, stretching out further back to allow himself and Hop room to work with before pulling his knees up to his chin, and Hop’s heart was pounding at the sight of Raihan completely exposing himself beneath him. 

It was happening. 

It was fucking happening. 

He expected Hop to fuck him, and Hop didn’t know what the fuck to do. His hands shook, heart pounding, knees knobbling, but Raihan only grinned at him from his position on the bed. 

“Come on, kid. Don’t be shy. Take your time.”

Time was moving in fast motion then, when it seemed like everything Raihan had done up until this point was like pulling teeth, when Hop was cringing wanting it to be over quickly, so he could just get it fucking over with and go level grind on his game again—now he was here. He was hard, unable to tear his stare away from Raihan splayed underneath him, and Hop’s resolve crumbled. There was no way in hell he could do this. Not of his own volition. He couldn’t—he didn’t want to—he—

“I-I’m not ready…” Hop’s own voice spooked him out of his shock, mouth moving before his brain could catch up and remind him to shut up, his face was on fire when he finally looked away from Raihan to focus on the blanket underneath him instead. “I can't do this…” He didn’t _want_ to do this. 

“Don’t be scared.” 

_Why did Raihan want this?_ Hop didn’t understand—his shame on full display as there was no way Raihan couldn’t see how red his face was. Maybe that was the entire point, to humiliate him and remind him how Hop had no control of this situation. Dangling the notion of agency in front of his face like this was cruel, making out as though Hop had a say, as though Hop could finally do something intimate with him without the fear of being held down for once. 

There was no choice. Hop knew that. 

When he didn’t reply, still unmoving where he stood, Hop’s heart thumped when Raihan moved instead, leaning up off the bed to reach over and take hold of his wrist. “I’ll help you, baby. Don’t be scared.”

Raihan could say that a thousand times, he could say it all night long, he could use his softest, gentlest voice and still, Hop would be terrified. But, he didn’t pull away. He didn’t move a goddamn inch when Raihan pulled him close, until the tip of Hop’s erection was pressed right up against Raihan’s ass, and his breath caught in his throat. 

Gently as he could, Raihan shushed him, rubbing soothing circles on his arm with his thumb. “You’re okay, Hop. Nothing bad is going to happen. Move at your own pace.”

Hop’s own pace would be to back the fuck out of this room right now, run screaming down the hall for someone to help him, to save him, but his fear kept his feet firmly planted to the floor. There was no guarantee if he chose to fight that Raihan would let it slide. Hop never knew when he’d snap, when he might use those toys he’d found in his closet before, and that thought alone was enough to keep Hop compliant. 

He was _scared_. 

“You’re doing good. Don’t worry about anything else right now. Just go with the feeling.” His arm was tugged and Hop fought to bite back the scream that was trying to claw out his throat when he was pulled as far as he could go against Raihan. If he—

Before Hop could even finish that thought, Raihan’s opposite hand came around and grabbed hold of Hop’s cock where he took it upon himself to push the tip inside. Gasping, Hop slammed his eyes shut, cheeks gushing heat until his entire body was hot, and he could do nothing but cringe when Raihan, pulling both his arm and dick, pushed his cock until it was all the way inside of him. 

“Oh— _Hop~_ ” The sound of his voice alone was enough to make Hop want to vomit, his heart palpitating out of his chest by this point. Raihan moaned, and Hop couldn’t help to think he was embellishing, because he hadn’t even _moved_ into him yet. Hop was still stuck, still frozen, but—

The feeling of being wrapped in Raihan’s warmth was enough for Hop to suck air between his teeth. Fuck...it felt good. It shouldn’t have. This wasn’t supposed to feel good, but it did, and before he could stop himself, he thrusted his length back out, gaining another moan from Raihan. 

“That’s it, baby, just like that.” 

Eyes still clamped firmly shut, Hop could feel Raihan’s grip on the base of his cock wane for only a moment before he was pulling him back in, tugging his arm at the same time. Already having been stimulated before, Hop could do little to hold in the moans gurgling in his throat. Having Raihan suck him off was one thing, but being inside of him—Hop bit his bottom lip, heat gushing from every pore on his face. He didn’t know what to do, what was expected of him, and could only grip hold of Raihan’s thighs to steady himself as he pulled back out. 

“O-oh—Hop—you’re doing so good, babe. Fuck—you feel good. You feel _so good._ ”

That was a lie. It had to be. 

Hop didn’t dare open his eyes, only gripped Raihan’s thighs to dig his nails into, just to have something to hold onto, Raihan hissing in absolute ecstasy when he did so.

“Fuck yeah— _hurt me_ , kid. Bite me if you want to— _uhhnn_.” 

He wouldn’t shut up, and it was only causing Hop to waver with his movements just slightly enough. He’d never heard Raihan make sounds like this, not whenever he was on the receiving end at least, but Hop couldn’t even fathom what he was getting out of this. He knew he wasn’t big—Hop was nowhere near as big as Raihan, even though he was average for his age, but considering the things Raihan had hidden in his closet, Hop knew he was probably used to being fucked until he was bleeding. That just wasn’t going to happen in this case, though Hop wasn’t even sure if he wanted Raihan in pain or not. 

It didn’t matter. 

At some point, Raihan’s hand left the base of Hop’s cock until he was moving on his own, and Hop hadn’t even noticed he was thrusting into him until Raihan’s leg lifted, the movement startling him until Hop dared to open his eyes to see Raihan lying flat on the bed, his leg hoisted all the way back to his chest where Hop could reach him more comfortably, his one hand still resting on Hop’s arm where he squeezed once in a while as a sign of reassurance (though Hop knew it was more a sign that he wasn’t allowed to leave), his opposite hand wrapped around his own cock where Raihan pumped himself in time to Hop’s thrusts. The sight alone was enough to make Hop gasp at what he was doing, and he didn’t know why—to recoil in momentary shock when he pulled out, not sure why the sight of Raihan pumping himself with such eagerness shocked him, and Raihan didn’t waste a second. 

He lifted his other leg, wrapping it around Hop’s waist and pulling him so far against his own body that Hop had no choice but to penetrate him all the way to his hilt, and he grunted at the sensation when Raihan gasped at the same time. Hop was losing himself fast, torn between wanting to focus on the feeling of his creeping pleasure, but mortified by the sounds coming from Raihan. It was unlike the times Hop had been in that position, splayed under him, completely vulnerable, and he didn’t know what to think right now, being the one to do this instead. 

It made him sick, but he couldn’t help to thrust harder, faster, the heat from his face seeming to travel all the way to the pit of his stomach. One glance at Raihan’s face, his lidded eyes, the little smile he threw at Hop once he caught his eye, and Hop had to turn away once more. There was no hope for him if he chose to look at Raihan while they did this. It was only hindering his orgasm, and Hop hated that he just wanted to come already and get it over with, but he didn’t want to stay here any damn longer than he had to. 

It was embarrassing, but he focused, trying to block out Raihan’s moans, the way his leg wrapped around him to keep Hop where he was, the sounds of him pumping his own cock in time with Hop’s thrusting, the breathy moans he made—Hop sucked in air, pouring all his attention to himself. In and out...in and out...fuck, it felt good, it _really_ did, and he hated it, though wouldn’t be caught dead actually admitting that to Raihan. 

Hop continued with his rhythm, keeping his eyes slammed shut, the only other sound in the room other than Raihan’s moans being that of flesh slapping together. Anytime Hop pulled out, Raihan’s leg pushed him right back in, until Hop couldn’t even tell who was moving more, who was actually in control of this situation. But, he tried his best to keep a steady pace, to focus on his own pleasure, as hard as it was. It should’ve been telling how much easier it was for Hop to come when Raihan was sucking him off than it was being inside him, but that was neither here nor there. 

“Hop…” Each time Raihan spoke, Hop was yanked out of his concentration, stifling a groan of frustration that Raihan was inadvertently drawing this out for the both of them without realizing. Or maybe he did realize. “You f-feel amazing—y-you’re such a good boy for me.”

_Don’t say it—don’t fucking say it._

Heat gushed from his face until Hop swore it was radiating off him, enough for Raihan to even feel it. Keep moving. Pursue the pleasure. Don’t listen to his voice. Just keep moving. In...out...Hop trembled, not sure how much longer he could last. It was almost there. Almost there and then this whole thing would be over. Focus on the heat, the sensation of his own dick rubbing against something, slathering his own precum against everything, brushing Raihan’s inner walls. Focus. Focus. _Focus_. Fucking—just come already. 

Then. 

“I-I love you, Hop… L-love you so much, baby.”

Hop swallowed a sob from escaping—why did he have to say that? Why did he have to say that while Hop was fucking himself inside of him, trying desperately to come, trying so hard to ignore all the sounds, the scent of cigarette smoke, the fucking feeling of Raihan practically pulling his entire body against him, until there was no hope of Hop backing out of this? 

He just wanted to go home. 

But, if he was still standing here, speeding up, fucking himself raw by this point, and still had the _nerve_ to say he couldn’t let go of his love for Raihan, then maybe he deserved to be here. Maybe Hop deserved every damn bit of this, and he had nobody to blame but himself for being in this predicament. Hop didn’t want to think about his feelings while doing something like this, because he didn’t know what to think anymore. He’d never been more confused, or frustrated in his life, and the longer he thrusted into Raihan, gaining speed, creating more friction, a plethora of noises coming from Raihan Hop really wished he wasn’t hearing—and he broke. 

Hop opened his eyes, a line of tears gathering at the corners, but he didn’t dare let them fall. He could feel the heat still ever-present on his stupid face, and he bit his lip so hard, that there was no way blood hadn’t spilled out of it as he fucked himself in and out of Raihan. Gripping his thigh, Hop squeezed, squeezed as fucking hard as he could, purposefully digging his nails into him, and the moan Raihan let out was enough to turn his blood cold, but Hop didn’t let up. 

Why did things have to be this way? 

Why did Raihan have to kidnap him, force him into intimate situations Hop wished they could have slowly built up to? Why did he have to take his first time so cruelly—drugging him in order to force him into submission? Why did Raihan continue threatening him unless he gave up sex for him? Is that all Hop was good for? Just a fuck toy? Is that all Raihan ever saw in him from the start, even during the years Hop harbored his crush for him? 

Hop was nothing more to him than a cheap thrill. A fling. A plaything he would get bored of eventually, and it didn’t matter how many fucking times Raihan spouted off that he loved him, Hop wasn’t fucking stupid. You didn’t do things like this to someone you loved. If Raihan really loved him, they wouldn’t be here. He wouldn’t have to scare Hop into doing things like this with him, Raihan wouldn’t be forcing him to stay locked in the tower, refusing to let him see his friends or family. 

It wasn’t love. 

Hop closed his eyes, piercing Raihan’s thighs with his nails so hard, he hoped he drew blood, but he knew Raihan loved it. He was a fucking sicko, a perverted creep, of course he’d love being manhandled and torn to shreds. The moans that followed soon after only drove that point home, until Hop was fucking into him more out of the desire to purge all of these ugly thoughts bouncing around in his head. Everything was so fucking loud. Everything was too much right now. 

He didn’t want to be here. 

Hop wanted to go home. 

He wanted to be with Gloria again, even if she didn’t like him, he wanted to be with his brother, even if he was a creep too, he wanted to be with Mum, to be held close and told he’d done his best in the gym challenge, and it didn’t matter that he couldn’t make it. Hop wanted to forget this entire thing happened. He wanted to forget everything Raihan had done to him, how he’d taken him against his will, threatened him, toyed with him—Hop just wanted—

There was no holding back anymore. With a final thrust, wishing he could have fucked into Raihan hard enough to cause him pain, his orgasm peaked until Hop was holding onto Raihan’s thighs for dear life, supporting himself from collapsing over when his body spasmed, and everything came out. Every fucking last drop he could afford to give burst out of him until he was choking on a muddied heap of gasps, moans, and sobs. His eyes snapped open when he came, the tears spilling down and only intensifying the heat from his face, but Hop kept pushing. In and out—in and out—over and over, he brushed against Raihan’s inner walls, trying to find comfort in the heat itself, but everything turned to mush soon after. 

His muscles relaxed, the high dying off way too quickly for Hop’s tastes, and he was only partially aware of the fact that Raihan was still pumping himself, having groaned when Hop came inside—and he was still going. Hop didn’t dare move, only clutched whatever part of Raihan he could afford to hold onto when he stood there and breathed. Deep breaths, in and out...in and out…slowly…

Raihan tensed underneath when he came not soon after, but Hop’s mind was still playing catch up, still reeling from everything that had happened up until this point, and he allowed himself to space out in the haziness of it all. It was better than being lucid, than paying too much attention to the way Raihan’s leg pulled him in, as far as Hop would go, as he stroked his own cock until every drop of cum was expelled, and Hop didn’t move. 

He just breathed. 

Breathed and existed. 

The excitement had died down, until the both of them were breathing, Raihan having fallen limp back on the bed, unraveling his leg from around Hop and he grunted when he was forced to pull out of him to accommodate the sudden movement. The sight of his own cum dribbling from Raihan’s ass would’ve made him sick, but for some strange reason, Hop felt nothing at all. 

Numb. 

It was _numb._

His body was numb. His brain was mush. His limbs were exerted to the point his arms flopped uselessly by his side, his legs feeling like jelly, but Hop couldn’t even cry right now. Look what he’d done. Look what he’d let Raihan talk him into this time. Even if he did escape from this place, what person was going to believe him if they found out he’d been the one to fuck Raihan? That’s not...that wasn’t how things worked. 

Hop wasn’t worthy of being saved unless he was in a dungeon somewhere, being starved, being used, being beaten, and hating his captor with every part of his body. Maybe then he would receive sympathy from people. 

His chest constricted, as he didn’t know why the fuck the thought of Leon ever finding out what he’d done hit him like a ton of bricks. The video Raihan showed him came crashing back, Hop’s heart pumping, and it was the first thing he became aware of that he could actually feel then when he came to his senses, and he covered his mouth, backing away from the bed as Raihan drew himself up, his face flushed, Hop’s cum still oozing out his bottom, and that smirk—that fucking, fucking _smile_ on his face caused Hop’s insides to freeze. If Leon blamed him for this—even though Hop didn’t want to see him right now—his brother was a creep too, who was to say he wasn’t into this shit? But still—the idea of Leon saying this was his fault was enough to send Hop into a panic. 

His eyes darted toward the bedroom door, and he had half a mind to run. Fucking run as far away as he could go, but there was the door in the entryway blocking his path, only activated by Raihan’s keycard. If he freaked out now and ran, Raihan might get mad, he might pull him back onto the bed and decide he wasn’t done with him yet. Because that’s all Hop was to him, anyway. A toy. 

His heart crumbled, because sometimes Hop wished Raihan really did love him like he claimed to. But that just wasn’t reality. He knew that. 

“B-baby…” Raihan’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts, and Hop forced himself to calm down, still his beating heart, try not to lose his damn mind and go screaming down the hall, but it was so difficult. “Y-you did good. You did so good for me, Hop. That was so...it was incredible...” Lifting his face, Raihan’s lidded, glazed eyes caught Hop’s, before he offered a soft smile. “Won’t you kiss me now? Please?”

Somewhere in that stare, Hop didn’t know why, or when, but he thought he caught a glimpse of the old Raihan, the one he'd fallen in love with from the start. The boy who came over to the house to hang around Leon, who acted cold towards Hop, but that was okay, because Hop was an annoying kid, and Raihan was an older, much cooler kid who didn’t want to be caught playing with him lest he be seen as lame. Hop understood. It only made him like him even more, and he couldn’t help to blush at how handsome Raihan had grown over the years. How tall he’d gotten, how the older he got, the more Hop’s crush grew, until he thought his heart would explode from wishing he could just kiss him already. 

This Raihan in front of him didn’t seem like that boy at all. Not anymore. Hop sometimes couldn’t tell if he was looking at the same person or not, but that was insane. This was the _real_ Raihan. 

It always was, and always would be. 

With little hesitance out of obligation, though not lacking in uncertainty, Hop walked back toward the bed, erasing any distance he’d created earlier, before Raihan held his hand out to him. Being seated, Raihan wasn’t much shorter than Hop was, but enough that he had to bend over once he took his hand in his, and gave him what he wanted, kissing him on the mouth. Raihan linked their fingers together, deepening the kiss, and seeming so pleased with Hop’s compliance, moaning into his mouth, tousling his hair with his opposite hand as he brushed his fingers through, causing Hop to shiver. 

“Love you, Hop.” Raihan broke the kiss only long enough to speak, planting smaller, softer kisses to Hop’s jaw between every word. “Love you so much.” 

Hop couldn’t help to cringe, wanting so badly for those words to be true, yet knowing they weren’t hurt worse every time Raihan said them. He was compelled to wrap his arms around Raihan, just for the comfort, to be told everything was okay, and he didn’t know why. Hop wanted comfort. He wanted to be told it wasn’t his fault, even if it was, even if everything was his fault. 

_Look what he’d done._

There was no taking this back. Hop fucking stood here and _let_ this entire ordeal happen. Excuse it all he wanted, but there was no denying reality, and the reality was that Hop was stuck here, he had gone along with Raihan enough to fuck him, and could only stand there stewing in his own shame as Raihan peppered his face and cheeks with kisses, still seeming to be lost in the aftermath of the haze. 

The numbness was wearing off, but in its place was an encroaching emptiness. All Hop wanted to do was sleep, shower and sleep this whole thing off, maybe try to forget about it in the morning. 

“Hop…” Raihan’s voice sounded so eerily far off that Hop thought he’d nodded off for a moment while standing there. He was so tired, but he wouldn’t be able to properly sleep without showering first. “I’ve been thinking…” 

That couldn’t mean anything good, and Hop was already bracing himself for impact, shivering when Raihan applied kisses to his throat. 

“I really wanna do right by you, Hop. I want you happy, I really do. I just…” He sighed, kissing Hop’s neck when he did so. “Sometimes I dream about taking us both away. Maybe to Alola or somewhere with a lot of sunshine. I could become champion easily in another region, and I could make enough money to support the both of us. You wouldn’t have to worry about a thing.”

Another kiss, but Hop’s brain had flatlined by that point, until the words Raihan was saying were only noises, but nothing that carried any meaning to it. Did he...hear all of that right? No. He couldn’t have. 

Hop sucked in a gasp when Raihan sucked a spot on his neck, no doubt aiming to make even more hickies than before. “I mean, that’s just an idea is all. I don’t have the funds to pull anything of that magnitude off quite yet. Being a gym leader doesn’t pay nearly as much as being the champion. I’m sure you’ve already been exposed to your dumb brother’s riches and whatnot.” The spots Raihan was sucking turned cold, making Hop shiver, but his brain was refusing to process any of what was being said to him. 

Only that Raihan wanted to take him away. Not just keep him locked in the tower—but actually _take him away._ This was dangerous what he was spouting, this was unbelievably psychotic the way he was speaking as though discussing vacation plans and not ripping Hop away from his family and friends for good. 

He shivered, heart pounding. To be numb again would be a blessing, but unfortunately, Hop wasn’t allowed that luxury. 

Raihan shrugged, planting another kiss to Hop’s neck. “I mean—yeah. It’s a nice thought and all, and it might be hard for you to believe, but I don’t want you staying locked up in my apartment for the rest of your life. I want you to have a life, to make friends, to go out and do the things you wanna do.” 

“I want to go home.” 

Hop’s mouth moved before he could stop himself, repeating the same mantra over and over to the point he knew Raihan was sick of him begging to be let go, but he couldn’t help it. It was his natural instinct to say it, the words tumbling out before he could even stop himself. 

Fearing for a moment he would grow angry, Hop tensed, Raihan’s kisses turning a little harsher, but he merely sighed as a response. 

“I know you do, kid. You’ve been telling me that since day one. I wanted things to be different, I really did.” 

Hop’s heart thumped, because so did he. He wished things between them could have wound up differently more than anything. He wanted—Hop swallowed. He wanted Raihan to be his boyfriend at one point. To hold his hand. To give him his first kiss. To go on dates with him. To sleep over and watch movies all night long while they got to know each other a little bit more. 

Cold sweat formed all over his body. 

To...touch him when Hop was ready to get more intimate. 

Why did this have to happen? Raihan was crazy, Hop knew he was, but he couldn’t change his feelings, no matter how fucking hard he tried, and he hated himself. He really did. Hop could lie to himself all day long and say he buried that crush, but he knew damn well he hadn’t. 

Another kiss was pressed to his neck, and Hop whimpered, fighting hard to hold back the tears, but failing with each passing second, and when Raihan spoke his next sentence, it was all Hop could do to avoid snapping in two. “Maybe in a few years, if I work hard, I can make enough money to get us out of here, and we can leave—”

And that was all it took. 

The moment those words left Raihan’s mouth, Hop’s body was moving on its own, and he couldn’t stop himself. In his state of stunned shock, that single sentence seemed to hold the weight of a freight train, and Hop had thrown his arms around Raihan’s shoulders, startling the absolute hell out of him judging by how Raihan blanched back for a second, but Hop was at his wit’s end. He didn’t know what to do, but he clung onto Raihan, desperate for comfort, for any ounce of comfort Raihan was willing to give him, and he choked on his words, sucking in shallow gulps of air as he fought to speak without breaking down crying. 

“P-p-please, R-Raihan…” His throat was tight, strangling his voice, but Hop had buried his face into Raihan’s neck, holding him so tight, he could feel every breath Raihan made as his chest rose and fell, every tremble he made, hear every bit of air he exhaled out. That simple, natural movement was somehow soothing, but Hop drank it up as though dehydrated out of his mind. “I-I don’t want to leave, please— _please_ , don’t make me leave. I-I’ll do anything—I can’t leave—I-I don’t wanna leave Mum, L-Lee is—” He was blubbering he knew, but Hop’s nerves were shot, and he was panicking right now, not knowing what else to do, and the horrified tears were blurring his vision, even as he held onto Raihan like he might blow away if he didn’t. 

One of Raihan’s hands rested against his back, and Hop could feel him attempt to calm him down when he rubbed his palm in small circles. The hug from Hop obviously threw him off, but Hop could feel his body relaxing as he clung to him, until eventually, Raihan had both arms wrapped around as well, shifting in his seat to allow Hop onto the bed with him. 

The two were naked, Hop almost in his lap, and would have been disgusted for willingly placing himself so close to Raihan’s exposed cock, but what was the point when he had no right to hold onto any shame anymore? Hop had burned that bridge long ago, and he was so scared of leaving Galar for good, that he didn’t know what to do. 

Anything to talk Raihan out of it. _Anything._ Hop was about to go insane. 

He was just short of sobbing, but Hop bit it back, he swallowed it all down until his stomach cramped, until he shivered in Raihan’s arms, hugging onto him, not knowing why, not understanding why he thought this might change his mind, but he’d been beaten so low that he resorted to begging. Pleading. He’d get on his hands and knees if he had to, he’d do whatever sexually depraved act Raihan asked of him if it meant staying in Galar. 

The thought of never seeing his family again terrified Hop more than anything. There truly would be no hope if Raihan got him out of the region. It was crazy—dangerous—Hop was shaking at the mere thought alone, and buried his face as far as it would go into Raihan’s neck, the scent of smoke especially strong. 

“I-I can’t do it. P-please don’t make me leave. I-I wanna stay here. I—” He tightened his arms around him. “ _Please…_ ”

It was strangely quiet, despite Hop’s rapid breathing, his shivering, with about a million thoughts firing off in his head at once, but the room itself was silent, and Raihan rocked him when he finally maneuvered Hop all the way into his lap until he was pressed right up against him. Hop didn’t dare break away from the hug, and could feel Raihan’s now flaccid dick against his leg, a feeling he’d normally grow nauseous over, but he couldn’t even be bothered to worry about that now. Such a trivial matter in the grand scheme of things. He just—Hop couldn’t let this happen. He couldn’t leave the region. He couldn’t give up hope of escape, or a rescue. 

Raihan shushed him, cradling him close, and Hop allowed it. He allowed himself to be held, to be rocked back and forth like a child, and he didn’t care how ridiculous he was being, how asinine all of this was. 

But he wanted comfort. Any comfort. Even if it was from Raihan, Hop wanted it so much right now, he was trembling, and when Raihan finally spoke after what felt like hours of silence, Hop’s shivering quieted. 

“We won’t then. Not now anyway.” He cupped the back of Hop’s head, raking his fingers through his short hair. “But—would you...try? And think about it? It doesn’t have to be a bad thing, Hop. You might like living somewhere else. Surely, Galar has lost its luster, and seeing new sights might make you happy.” He patted Hop’s back. “We could be happy.”

As much as Hop wanted that, as much as he desperately wanted something like that, he just couldn’t see it happening. Not now. Not after knowing what Raihan was capable of, the lengths he was willing to go just to force Hop into sex. That was all he cared about when it boiled down to it. Raihan had pulled off an elaborate scheme, locked Hop up, kept him away from his family and friends, disposed of most of his possessions, all the while feeding him lies about how much he cared for him. 

He didn’t love him. 

This wasn’t love. It was sick. It was sick and wrong. 

And even as Hop sat in Raihan’s lap, allowing the source of his anguish to comfort him, he knew then that if he didn’t get out of here now, he was going to die with Raihan. He would be stuck with him for the rest of his life. But was that fair to shove all the blame to Raihan? Hop was just as guilty. Just as fucked up. 

Just as fucking disgusting. 

One thing was for certain—Hop needed to get out of here. Nobody was going to come barreling down that door to save him. If Hop didn’t take matters into his own hands and get fucking serious about this, he was never going to get out of here. 

He clung to Raihan tighter, just to take whatever he was willing to give Hop at the moment. It didn’t matter. It didn’t fucking matter what, as long as he was held right now. Fuck the guilty thoughts, fuck Hop’s feelings, fuck this entire absurd mess. 

Hop was escaping one way or another. He’d be damned if he let Raihan go as far as getting him out of the region for good. That sure as fuck wasn’t happening. Nobody was coming for him, but Hop knew he had sit and figure out what the fuck he was going to do now, how he was going to escape. 

He had to get a hold of that keycard. That was his only hope. 

Raihan’s voice was low and soothing as he patted the back of Hop’s head, still rocking him, tilting his face down in order to apply kisses to Hop’s hair every so often. “Will you promise me you’ll think about it?”

Hop nodded, tightening his hold, not daring to let go, not daring to move, just allowing Raihan to cradle and hold him as long as he needed it. “I-I will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> btw i'm @leonloveshop on twitter if you ever wanna hang out with me! :)


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY what better way to celebrate than with raihop :D 
> 
> i had to cut this in half bc it was getting so long, so consider this a part one of what's the come. i'm trying to write not so long chapters, bc i know i get super wordy. i'm trying to be better about that! 
> 
> as always, thank you guys so much for your support, i really appreciate it! :)

The rare times Hop got to himself in the apartment were becoming rarer the more the days dragged on. With the gym challenge having concluded in summer, there wasn’t much Raihan had to do outside of Hammerlocke, and as a result, he was  _ constantly  _ around Hop, barely giving him the time to catch his breath. It made attempting any sneaky business an even bigger, more dangerous hassle, because try as he might, there just wasn’t much for Hop to work with. 

Raihan covered his tracks well, his Rotom also in on the whole ordeal, and Hop knew his chances of swiping that damn keycard off him without alerting either Raihan or his stupid phone were pretty slim to say the least. That didn’t mean he hadn’t at least attempted, though those attempts were nulled pretty fucking quick. 

He often stole glances at Raihan’s pockets, wondering which one the keycard was in, and if Hop could steal it off him whenever he went to sleep. Once, Raihan caught him staring, making some gross joke about how Hop was checking him out, to which he replied with a very obvious eye roll. In his fucking dreams (ignoring the fact Hop  _ had  _ checked him out before, but that was all in the past). He tried waiting for him to fall asleep so that he could ransack his clothing, but Rotom didn’t need sleep, and anytime it saw Hop trying to sneak into Raihan’s room, he’d be busted. 

Getting to that damn keycard was going to take a lot more work than simply waiting around for Raihan to slip up and forget about it, which—Hop doubted he would ever get  _ that _ lucky. If he wasn’t careful, Raihan might catch onto the fact Hop was planning an escape and do all he could to ensure that didn’t happen, and Hop was grossly outnumbered and outweighed as it was. The odds were stacked against him and he knew it would take a lot of luck for him to pull something like this off. It was either wait for Raihan to slip up or wait for rescue, and Hop couldn’t afford to wait for either of those things to happen. If he was going to steal that keycard, he was going to have to be a hell of a lot smarter than Raihan.

Those rare moments Raihan left the apartment, taking his stupid snitch of a phone with him, Hop wasted no more time in snooping through everything, leaving no stone left unturned, or in this case, nothing left unsearched. He poured through the kitchen cabinets, not sure what he was looking for in the first place, but hoping the search itself could give him ideas. The fridge was packed with beer, Raihan having stocked some of his cabinets with liquor, and Hop had to wonder how shitfaced drunk he could get Raihan to the point he passed out, or if he could simply incapacitate him enough to steal the keycard. 

Sometimes Raihan drank, though it wasn’t an everyday occurrence, but even still, Hop had caught him going for more than one bottle, Raihan still appearing of sound mind. It only made sense, he was tall as fuck, a damn tree, so it would take more than that to bring him down. Thoughts like that made Hop incredibly nervous when he realized how much of a disadvantage he had. It wasn’t fair—Raihan held so much more power over him in terms of strength and speed, and Hop knew forcing his way out was suicide, but he put the alcohol in the back of his mind for now. It could wind up being useful if he planned carefully enough. It was something—better than having no plan at all. 

After scouring the kitchen from top to bottom, Hop also discovered a drawer full of pills, but they were just over the counter sleep medicine, or pain pills. The generic stuff, and it only reminded him that Raihan had actually drugged him when he kidnapped him from the get-go, the thought alone causing Hop’s stomach to churn. He felt like an idiot for allowing that to happen to himself in the first place, but he held onto that idea. 

The idea—he could try to  _ drug _ Raihan. 

It gave him nervous heart palpitations to even think of trying to pull something like that off, as Hop had no idea where Raihan hid his stash, or how much he could even give him without accidentally offing him in the process. Hop had already searched Raihan’s room top to bottom, and didn’t remember seeing anything akin to drugs, pills, powder, whatever the fuck it was that he used on Hop before kidnapping him. The only thing close to pills he’d found was what he was currently looking at—the over the counter pain medicine. 

It wouldn’t be that easy, Hop knew that. With a heavy sigh, he closed the medicine cabinet, but his mind was racing with thoughts of how he could incapacitate Raihan. Right now, his only hope was to either get him drunk (and it would take a  _ lot _ of alcohol for that fucking totem pole of a man), or find his stash and attempt to drug him. Those were Hop’s only options, and seeing as how much bigger Raihan was than him, there was no chance of him forcing his way out. If he was going to do this, he had to be sneaky. He had to be  _ smart. _ If he fucked this up—

Hop took a breath. 

He didn’t even want to think of what might happen then. Hop didn’t think Raihan would hurt him—maybe not physically, as he had yet to see him angry enough to pummel Hop with his fist or anything like that. The most Raihan had done was raise his voice, and obviously force sex on him, but even then, it wasn’t like he forced Hop to blow his dick or do anything remotely for only Raihan’s pleasure. 

His face heated at the thought of being the one to thrust in and out of Raihan like he had—and Hop’s face burned red when he fought to shake that memory as far out of his head as possible. It had already happened, and there was no taking it back, but he wasn’t even sure how to deal with any of it. Or any of this as a whole. It both felt like Hop was overwhelmed to the point he was numb to most everything Raihan threw at him, and also ready to run screaming down the hall for someone to save him in an attempt to get the hell out of here, but he found it easier to push the bad thoughts down when he could focus on something else in the meantime. Usually, it was video games, or some show on the telly, but nowadays that focus had been directed at finding a way out, which is what Hop spent most of his time doing when Raihan wasn’t around. 

He wasn’t about to waste a single damn second longer in this place any more than he had to. The fact Raihan was planning to take him out of the region, even years down the road, Hop couldn’t accept that. What hope would he have if he woke up one day in another place, thousands of miles away from home? Hop couldn’t fathom it, and he swore to himself the moment Raihan spoke of leaving, that he would leave alright—he’d get the fuck out of this tower for starters. There was no way in hell he was letting Raihan cart him on a plane out of the region. Hop would die before that happened. 

For now, he abandoned his search, not wanting Raihan to catch him in the middle of snooping around when he came back, and Hop had already looked everywhere he could think for something to help him. There was just nothing in this apartment. Nothing useful anyway. Nothing that jumped out at him (other than the alcohol, but that was a long shot in itself), and he’d  _ really _ have to tear apart the place if he had any hope of finding Raihan’s stash of whatever the fuck it was he used on Hop. If he even had that shit anymore. Who was to say that was just a one-time thing? Hop had his doubts. It was true Raihan smoked a lot, oftentimes going outside to smoke so it wouldn’t stink up the apartment, but Hop had theories he was getting high on occasion. He had no proof, as he’d never seen Raihan take anything suspicious, but sometimes when he came back inside, Raihan was always just a little...too happy. 

That could’ve just meant he was a psycho, but Hop was grasping at straws by this point. 

So far, the alcohol seemed like the best solution, and he bit his bottom lip as he hunkered back down in the living room, pulling out the DS from between the couch cushions (how did it keep managing to fall there), before he flipped it open to play his game. He almost had his party at level sixty, and figured he was nearing the end game. As much as he fucking hated and dreaded the idea, Hop wondered if he could talk Raihan into buying him another game to play. He’d made it a point to say as little as possible to the man, but sometimes—he still needed to ask for stuff. And he hated it. 

Usually, Hop bought his own things. His Mum would give him pocket money when he was little so he and his brother could go to the market together, and Hop had learned from the get go how to buy things for himself, and when he’d made his own money during his Pokémon journey, he had even more freedom in that regard. He ate when he wanted. Slept when he wanted. Bought whatever he needed, when he needed, learned how to budget and when he could splurge. That was the whole point of leaving with Pokémon, not only to challenge the league and face off against his brother, but to learn independence, and figure out what he wanted to do in life. 

And now. 

Hop sighed. Again. His healer just fucking died.  _ Again _ . 

Now he had all that freedom ripped away from him. It wasn’t just about being taken away from his friends and family and being forced to live in an apartment with a fucking pervert, but Hop had come to rely on Raihan for the simplest things he could have done himself otherwise. When he’d run out of soap or shampoo, he had to ask for it. When he used all the detergent for laundry, he had to report to Raihan and let him know it was all gone. When food was running low, Hop was usually the one to point out to Raihan they needed shit to eat. 

It burned his face at the fact he was having to go to Raihan for every fucking little thing, when Hop would have been taking care of that himself. It wasn’t so much humiliating, but just more of a constant reminder that he had absolutely no say in this place. Raihan made the money. Raihan went out and bought the groceries. He’d buy whatever Hop needed. And Hop hated it. He hated having to rely on someone like that for stuff that he needed. He hated talking to Raihan, bringing it up when he’d run out of toothpaste, or whatever it was. 

It was so...so fucking  _ infantilizing _ almost. Hop felt like a child, having to ask for things, having to remind Raihan to buy food, to buy water—not just fucking soda all the time. He wanted to pretend he was still taking care of himself, by having to speak up and tell Raihan these things, but Hop hated it at the same time. Raihan definitely wasn’t very knowledgeable when it came to taking care of people. At first, Hop almost drowned in all the junk food and extra clothes that he’d bought for him, but over the course of the past few months, Raihan had started slacking, and it was probably just because he wasn’t used to providing for two people, having lived his life single (as far as Hop could tell), and so he just forgot that Hop didn’t always want sugar. He wanted healthy food. He wanted to drink water sometimes. He needed soaps and shampoos, he needed new clothes when the weather changed—it was all the more evident Raihan was not prepared for this at all, and that kidnapping Hop had been a split-second decision. 

Hop didn’t know how he felt about that. But, the only way to drown out the embarrassment for having to ask Raihan for food (because it wasn’t as though he were starving Hop, he just wasn’t buying the  _ best _ foods), was to occasionally  _ demand _ something of him. The first time Hop demanded Raihan purchase him some fucking water instead of soda, because he was sick of feeling sluggish, he thought he had made him angry, and was prepared for Raihan to get physical with him, but he merely obeyed, grabbing his wallet, and came back to the apartment not long after with exactly what Hop asked for. It was strange, but Hop could get away with asking for a  _ lot _ if he really pushed Raihan. Just how far he could push him, he wasn’t sure, and he didn’t know if he wanted to find out should he go too far. 

But, he could start with video games. Once he beat his current game, there wouldn’t be a damn thing to do in the apartment, other than watch tv, and Hop could only stomach the same reruns over and over before he went insane. At least video games were a nice distraction from how shitty this all was. It wasn’t a fix by any goddamn means, but it was better than nothing. 

No sooner had Hop brought his healer back to life, than the front door opened from down the hall, signifying Raihan’s return. He recognized those stupid heavy-ass footsteps anywhere, and Hop cringed upon having to deal with  _ him  _ now that he was back, especially since he’d just gotten comfortable on the sofa with his game. He just hoped he’d put everything back in its proper place from where he’d gone snooping earlier. Raihan could be scarily perceptive, picking up on small details Hop would have never thought, but if he questioned him, Hop could always lie and say he’d been looking for snacks or something. 

“Babe?”

Ah—that fucking pet name. That word, no matter how many times Raihan used it, made Hop feel like his stomach shriveled up every fucking time he said it, even after he’d asked him not to, Raihan kept calling him that, and it made him absolutely cringe in disgust every single time. There was no enjoying his game now, and with a weighted, albeit annoyed sigh, Hop closed the DS before tossing it to the other side of the sofa, his mood officially soured by that one word alone. He didn’t bother answering, as he never did to that word. Raihan could call him by his damn name, then  _ maybe _ Hop would answer. 

“Hey, Hop?”

Well fuck. 

Still not budging, and not planning to budge, Hop merely folded his legs up to his chin before scowling at the television as if that were the source of all his troubles, awaiting the moment Raihan would pop his head in and annoy the hell out of him for the rest of the day. Sometimes, Hop enjoyed the time he got to himself, as he wasn’t being smothered, but he had been using every second of that alone time to try and figure a way out of here to no avail. He was just going to have to try getting Raihan shit faced drunk one night and hope for the best. That’s the only plan he had anyway. It sucked, but what more could he do? 

Right on cue, Raihan’s head appeared in the doorway, and he shot Hop a wide grin. “There you are. You ain’t hard to find.” Well—that’s because the couch had more or less become Hop’s go-to place anytime Raihan was hanging around. It wasn’t like he had anywhere else to go. 

He really wanted to bite back with that remark, but held his tongue. The less he said around Raihan, the better. 

Ugh, the moment Raihan crossed the threshold, Hop caught a whiff of cigarette smoke and visibly grimaced, not able to help glaring up at him when he did so, and his mouth was flapping before he could tell himself to shut up. “Why do you always have to do that?”

Raihan cocked his head to the side—and Hop  _ hated  _ that his chest fluttered the tiniest bit, because it was cute… Nothing about Raihan should have been cute, and Hop cursed himself for having ever thought so. “Do what?”

“Smoke all the time. You stink—and it’s bad for you. Sometimes I can smell you all the way at the front door.”

Hop figured jabbing at Raihan’s habits and odor would cause an argument to break out, but he didn’t expect the man to swoop down onto the couch with him, shooting him an even wider grin and throwing Hop off so far that he couldn’t even back up to keep the distance. “Look at  _ you _ . Are you saying you’re worried about me? That’s so sweet of you, Hop, I think I might tear up.” He made some sort of forced choked sound, covering his mouth, and Hop’s face burned at the dramatics, because that wasn’t it  _ at all _ .

“Drop dead. I could care less if you smoked yourself to an early grave, but if you’re going to keep me here and not let me out, you could at least shower the fucking cigarette stink off.” 

“I think you’re just worried for me~” 

“I think you’re a psycho.” 

Raihan threw his head back, startling the hell out of Hop when he laughed, and he took the chance to scoot back on the sofa, putting extra distance. Hop was no stranger to having his space invaded, but if he could help it, he’d fucking fly to moon to get away from Raihan when he got too close. It didn’t help matters that his chest quaked, heart fluttering to be so close like this. 

“Fine, if it’ll make you happy, I’ll go shower. And cut back on smoking  _ just for you~ _ ” The singsong way Raihan let that out would’ve been enough to make Hop’s stomach churn with nausea, but he didn’t dare move in case Raihan had ulterior motives for sitting down on the sofa with him. He hated being kissed when Raihan smelled like smoke, and he might really throw up then if he pulled him in for one—but thankfully, Raihan lifted off the couch, stretching as he did so, and Hop could breathe a little easier. He gave Hop a little wave before making to head out the door to his bathroom, but Hop opened his mouth before he could stop himself, not sure why  _ the fuck _ he was saying this.

“By the way, you’re almost out of canned food.” 

Raihan perked up, turning back to face him, and he gave a sheepish shrug. “Yeah, it’s been a while since I bought us any good food that wasn’t take out. I’ll do that later.” 

Why the hell did Hop even bother? He had no idea why in the fuck he was telling Raihan when they needed groceries, and he immediately regretted opening his mouth, but if he didn’t eat something other than goddamn cupcakes for once, he’d go insane. He missed eating fruit, eating eggs, eating normal ass shit that wasn’t sweets all the time. Hop loved sugar, it was true, but that was the only thing Raihan seemed to be feeding him, other than fast food, and he was horrified to discover his body was suffering from it. Fast food along with lack of exercise, plus all the sweets was causing Hop to gain weight, and it wasn’t so much the weight itself he was horrified by, but the fact he was getting stagnant. Sedentary. 

When push came to shove, he might not be able to run away if he didn’t stay in better shape. That terrified him more than it probably should have, but he had noticed he was more sluggish, a lot more tired often because of his diet, and if it came to bitching at Raihan to buy healthier food, then so be it. The weight he’d gained wasn’t much but still gushed about by Raihan who got even  _ more _ handsy with him, not that he wasn’t already, but Hop often contemplated refusing to eat until he lost it all again—then he really would be weak. There was no winning. There just wasn’t. 

“I-I want fruit. A-and-and vegetables!” Being this bold with Raihan wasn’t something Hop was used to, and his face burned as he fought not to tremble, worried any minute that Raihan would grow displeased with his attitude and come at him—whatever that could entail, but to his complete and utter surprise, Raihan nodded. 

“You’re right, kid. Feeding you cookies and stuff probably hasn’t been the best for you, huh?” He gave a nervous laugh, rubbing at the back of his neck and shifting his eyes to the side. It always threw Hop for a loop to see Raihan act almost shy around him, when he was used to his abrasiveness, his brash, loud personality that wasn’t the least bit ashamed, so to see him recede somewhat made Hop twice as nervous than he would have otherwise been. Even after living here for what—two? Three months? Even still, Hop couldn’t figure Raihan out. He couldn’t read him to save his life, and remained on guard, even if things seemed safe, Hop didn’t trust it one damn bit. 

Though, he didn’t expect Raihan to agree with him, so needless to say, Hop was stunned, only able to stand there, not sure what else to say when Raihan shot him a grin. 

“I’ll go take care of that later. Ima go shower though first.” With that, Raihan gave Hop a small wave before exiting the living room, and Hop caught the sight of his Rotom flying from his pocket, eyeing Hop as though suspicious for Hop having stood up to Raihan like he did, like he had an ulterior motive for asking for healthy food or something (ignoring the fact he kinda did, but that wasn’t the point). 

“ _ What? _ ” he barked at it, not holding back when it came to snapping at Rotom. It was a fucking snitch, after all, and Hop had no qualms about being a little mean to it, especially when it buzzed around him, watching his every movement in case it needed to report to Raihan. “I ain’t doing—I-I mean—” Holy fuck, his face burned, Hop sputtering on his words. He’d started picking up on Raihan’s speech patterns from being here for as long as he had, and he fucking  _ hated _ it, instantly wanting to bite the blood out his tongue for letting words like that slip out so easily. “I-I’m not doing anything! I just want some fruits, for fuck’s sake.”

Though Rotom didn’t seem convinced, it eyed Hop up and down once more before floating out the room, tailing after Raihan, and Hop huffed to himself, picking his discarded DS back up to resume gaming for the rest of the day. 

* * *

“Babe, you coming to bed?”

The rest of the day passed by in a blink of an eye. All Hop had done the entire day was play his video game, and he’d spent hours level grinding until his party was ready to take on the final boss, but he  _ still _ didn’t feel prepared for the fight. Hop was always that one gamer who grinded until his characters were way too powerful, but it made fighting bosses and such a little easier. Plus, he had all the time in the world now, so he may as well spend it gaining experience points. 

“Hop?” 

He’d barely acknowledged that Raihan spoke to him, but became aware of his presence when he bent down to get face level with him. Having been so absorbed in his game, it caused Hop to jump back when he lifted his eyes to find Raihan staring straight back at him, shooting him a grin. 

“No need to be so jumpy, kid. It’s almost midnight, and you been on the couch all day.” 

Hop said nothing, though wasn’t sure what he could say, so he saved his game before closing the DS and placing it on what had become its designated waiting area—the cushion. He didn’t want to go to bed, especially with Raihan, even though he’d showered all that gross cigarette stink off him, and at least had the pleasant scent of shampoo wafting off him, Hop hated it when he made him sleep in the same bed. Some nights he could get away with Raihan leaving him alone, even letting him sleep on the couch, but other times, he was pushy about it, often insisting they ‘have some fun’ before going to sleep, and Hop dreaded every second of it. 

Finally, when it seemed like Raihan was expecting him to answer, Hop opened his mouth. “I-I’m fine right here.”

“Come on, Hop, just come to bed already.” Another grin. “I ain’t gonna bite you or nothing. Won’t do a thing. I swear.”

That was the biggest lie Hop had heard all day, but he sighed, unfolding himself from the couch before standing to Raihan’s side. It would be less of a hassle to simply give in for now and let Raihan have his way, and besides, Hop wasn’t in the mood for an argument to break out, or for Raihan to start with his annoying prattle that would continue until Hop gave in anyway. “Whatever. Can I at least have some of the sleeping pills in the kitchen drawer?” He was suddenly reminded of the bottles of pills from his snooping earlier and figured it couldn’t hurt to force sleep on himself one way or another. He’d been mostly staying up all night, and he wanted to start fixing it. 

“What sleeping pills?”

Hop arched his eyebrow. “There’s like melatonin and stuff in the kitchen drawer. I saw it when I got food earlier. Can I  _ please  _ have some?” He emphasized the ‘please’ as nicely as he could, but Raihan only cocked his head, appearing confused momentarily before his eyes lit back up, as though a lightbulb turned on in his head. 

“Oh! That stuff. No, it’s empty don’t worry about it. I’ll buy you some tomorrow when I go out.”

That was...odd. Hop hadn’t popped the bottles open themselves, but he definitely remembered hearing rattling when he pulled the drawer back. “Why are you keeping empty bottles then?”

Raihan shrugged, making it apparent he was trying to brush Hop off as soon as possible. “Slipped my mind. Don’t worry about it though, if you want stuff like that, I’ll buy it for you.” His grin returned, the subject obviously meant to be dropped, and he bent at the waist until he was leaned into Hop’s face. “In the meantime, don’t hesitate to cuddle in my arms tonight if you’re having trouble sleeping.” He winked. “I’ll keep you company.” 

It was all Hop could do not to roll his eyes, but he settled for heaving a big sigh and replying, “Whatever,” before seeing himself out of the living room. Raihan tailed after him, Hop making a beeline for his bedroom, but stopped short when Raihan grabbed him by the wrist. 

“Come on, kid, let’s sleep in my room tonight. My bed is way bigger than yours.” It was true, but Hop didn’t care at all to be in Raihan’s room in the least. It wasn’t that there was anything inherently  _ wrong _ with the room itself, it was just—Hop swallowed. A place Raihan had done so many horrible things to him, and he wouldn’t put it past him to continue conjuring up more and more awful shit to force Hop into. He just wasn’t in the mood for that bullshit tonight. Not that he was ever in the mood. 

As if reading his mind, Raihan rubbed circles on Hop’s wrist with his thumb. “I promise I won’t do nothing. Swear it. I just wanna be next to you, now that’s not scary, right?” 

No, it wasn’t scary, but considering all Raihan had shown himself capable of, Hop couldn’t help to be distrustful of him out of habit, even if Raihan claimed innocence, Hop’s brain went into overdrive trying to find the hidden meaning of his words, waiting for the moment he’d snap, or talk Hop into something worse than anything he’d done before. It had been a while since they’d done anything intimate, and Hop knew his days were numbered, his anxiety skyrocketing at the fear of what Raihan would force him to do next. The possibilities were endless—and dangerous, when it came to Raihan. Hop couldn’t afford to let his guard down, and he was mighty suspicious that Raihan brushed him off about the pill bottles in the kitchen. 

Hop had seen those bottles time and time again, never thinking much of them, because it was all generic brand pain reliever, or sleep aid you could purchase at any poké mart, so he never extended his curiosity further than that. But he knew Raihan had narcotics somewhere—otherwise, what the fuck did he use to drug him with? Surely that wasn’t a one-time use, right? And Hop wasn’t stupid, he knew Raihan got high sometimes, either the super happy kind of high, or the tired kind, so his shit had to be hidden in this damn apartment  _ somewhere.  _

For now, Hop could only sigh in resignation as he allowed himself to be led away from his bedroom door, down the hall, and into Raihan’s room. His stupid Rotom hovered in the air next to the only lit lamp, casting a warm, what could have been considered welcoming glow in the room at least. Rotom eyed Hop when he entered and he wished he could’ve told it to fuck off, but held his tongue. For him to hold as much contempt for that damn Pokémon as he did, he almost hated it more than Raihan. 

Oh—but he didn’t hate Raihan, did he? That was a whole other dilemma Hop wasn’t prepared to face, but he could worry about that later. For now, he peeled back the covers from the opposite side of the bed, tucking himself in without waiting for any go ahead from Raihan, so if he wanted to sleep on this side, then he was going to fucking having to deal with it. Rather than call him out on it, Raihan just chuckled, and as Hop huddled down under the blanket, back facing away from Raihan, he could feel the mattress give way while Raihan climbed in next to him. Hop made damn sure he was obvious with how he had himself wrapped up that he was not interested in being intimate tonight (or any night for that matter), and he was somewhat shocked that Raihan didn’t immediately crawl on top of him like he figured he would. 

Instead, Raihan settled himself down under the blanket, scooting up against Hop until he was effectively spooning him, and Hop cringed when his arm looped over his waist, Raihan pulling him close. His hesitance must have shown, or maybe Raihan could feel it by the way his body stiffened, because not a moment later, he placed a small, soft kiss to the side of Hop’s head. 

“Relax, baby, I just wanna hold you, like I said. We ain’t gotta do nothing. Do you really think all I want out of you is sex?”

“Yes.” Hop couldn’t have stopped that from flying out his mouth if he tried. It wasn’t even a lie, but the spite was definitely there, and Raihan just sighed from behind him, tugging him closer until Hop’s back rested against his chest. 

“Well, I don’t. I just don’t want you thinking it’s something bad or scary. It’s supposed to be fun.” 

Ugh, the more he tried to justify his shitty actions, the more Hop cringed, and felt his face grow hotter, though whether it was from embarrassment or anger was hard to tell. “You sure as hell don’t make it fun for anyone but you.”

“That’s not true.” Raihan shifted his body, until he leaned up on his elbows, and Hop caught his face out of the corner of his eye when he leaned over him, and it sent his heart racing with nerves. “When have I ever fucked you without making it good for you? I’m not hurting you, am I? Hop, you can’t sit there and tell me you never enjoyed any of it—that’s a fucking lie and you  _ know _ it.”

At that, Hop leaned up also, letting the blanket fall from over his chest and couldn’t help to glare up at Raihan who wasn’t wearing a goddamn smirk for once in his life. He didn’t look angry, but he definitely wasn’t amused. Hop had to be careful, as he didn’t want an argument to break out. He just wanted to sleep, but he couldn’t help to bite back at Raihan when he was feeding him this hot garbage. 

“Did it ever occur to you how uncomfortable it makes me feel?”

“But I’m gentle with you, ain’t I? I don’t fuck you dry or nothing—I know you can’t handle that, kid. I’m not a  _ monster _ , I don’t  _ like _ seeing you in pain, I want you to enjoy yourself.” Raihan let a soft sigh escape, and his brow furrowed. “I just want you to enjoy being with me.”

“Raihan, you can’t expect me to believe all this. If you cared so much, then why did you have to kidnap me in the first place? Why drug me? Why blindfold me? Why—” Hop choked, but he swallowed just as fast, hoping Raihan didn’t catch on to his moment of weakness when his voice quivered, but it made his heart ache to say things like this. “Why couldn’t you have just  _ talked _ to me?”

“Because I was always under the impression you hated me.” Raihan shrugged, leaning back against the headboard before Rotom floated by, only to be swatted away by Raihan until it laid itself down on the bedside table. “You had eyes for your brother—I mean, you were always gushing about how cool he was. Made me a little jealous, I gotta admit, but then your not-girlfriend came along, and I saw the way you were ogling her all the time. Do you really think I could’ve just come up to you all friendly-like and been all, oh Hop, I know you’re the champion’s little brother, but how about we hang out? Your mum would’ve had a fit if I asked you out like that, I know she would.” Raihan inhaled before letting out a deep sigh, reaching up to rub his temples. “I knew you’d reject me and I couldn't handle it, okay? Is that what you want to hear? I fucked up, Hop. I know I did.” 

“So, kidnapping me—drugging me, and doing everything you’ve done is somehow supposed to make up for that?” Hop’s heart was heavy in his chest, because a part of him could tell Raihan was genuine as he confessed all this, and while Hop wanted to leap up and tell him no, he would have died from happiness if Raihan were to ask him out, he would have been so elated—it didn’t make up for what Raihan had done to him. Hop could never forgive him, and he couldn’t forgive himself for still holding onto those feelings. 

Even now, lying in bed with him, watching Raihan express guilt over the whole ordeal, he was  _ still _ actively holding Hop captive. He was  _ still _ forcing sexual encounters on him that Hop wasn’t prepared for. He was still— _ still _ —being a fucking piece of shit. 

“Of course it doesn’t. Look, kid, I’ve told you a million times I never wanted to do any of that.”

Hop glared. “You still did it. It doesn’t matter what you say, because you  _ still did it _ , Raihan.” 

“So, I’m a bastard, I know. You’re right to hate me, kid, I ain’t a damn saint or nothing, I ain’t perfect, I’m a horrible, disgusting person, and I know that, okay?” Another sigh, but this time, Raihan leaned away from the headboard, and Hop froze, his glare dropping when Raihan reached up to cradle his cheek, and he wasn’t expecting to be touched so gently, he didn’t expect Raihan to gaze at him through lidded eyes, his lips pursed as though to kiss, but he held off. “But I love you. I know your family didn’t treat you right. They expected you to live up to the Mighty Leon’s godly standards, when you and I both know that’s not fair. Leon never appreciated you. You weren’t your mum’s successful child, and she doted on Leon most of her time. You were tossed away, and you know it. Nobody ever gave a single shit about you, Hop. You can’t fucking sit there and tell me they did. You  _ know _ they didn’t.” When he leaned in, Hop blanched backward for only a moment when Raihan kissed him, and all prior annoyances and anger were abolished. His heart thumped, cheeks rising with heat, because he wanted so, so badly for this to be like he’d always dreamed it would. He wanted so badly to kiss back, for it to be tender, to be treated kindly, to blush like a schoolboy with his first crush. 

He wanted to be with Raihan. He wanted to love him. He wished he could bury this stupid crush, but he couldn’t. 

The worst part was, Hop wasn’t sure if Raihan was even lying to him about this anymore. It had been months...so where was his family if they cared about him so much? Why wasn’t Leon using his connections and fame to start a broader search? He should have been rescued by now. They should have found him—Raihan couldn’t have possibly been so suave to convince everyone that Hop simply took his shit and ran away. There’s no way his family would believe that when Hop had been so dead set on challenging Leon for his title. 

If Raihan was truly a liar, then why wasn’t Leon doing anything? Why hadn’t anyone found him yet? The trail should have been simple. The last place anyone saw Hop was Hammerlocke. Raihan should have been their first suspect. It should have been easy, but—

_ Months _ . 

Hop had been locked in the tower for  _ months _ , experiencing the change of seasons, memorizing the entire apartment until he knew where every last squeaky floorboard was, spending most of his days on the sofa playing video games, spending most of his nights either in bed with Raihan, or naked with Raihan. Hop hadn’t expected to stay here like he had, but the more time dragged on, the more his stomach flipped at the fact that—

He really was trapped. 

If Hop didn’t get himself out of this situation, he would probably never see his family again. The idea of living with Raihan for years on end made him want to throw up. His mind was constantly in a whirlwind of chaos, his more pessimistic thoughts drilling into his head of why would living with Raihan be so bad if Hop was in love with him? He had a home, his own bedroom, and Raihan seemed eager to buy him whatever he wanted, as long as it didn’t involve communication. Hop was taken care of. 

He swallowed, Raihan backing away from the kiss to instead wrap his arm around him, pulling Hop to his chest for a hug. 

Hop was...taken care of…

This was some people’s biggest fantasy, to be whisked off to their lover’s home, away from abusive or neglectful families, away from any responsibilities life had to throw at them. For Hop to have whatever he wanted, a roof over his head, good food, not bound to any schedule, not having to worry about making money, or spending money, having someone here to take care of him, who claimed to love him—why in the world would Hop possibly want to leave? 

The hug Raihan pulled him into was meant to be comforting, but all Hop felt was overwhelming dread. 

On the surface level, it might have seemed that way, but—his eyes lined with tears, heart aching, but he didn’t dare show weakness right now. None of that excused what Raihan had done. He had taken Hop against his will, he had locked him up, he had lied to his family, and he continuously toyed with him, either sexually, or mentally, he made it apparent he was only interested in Hop because he was attracted to him, because he wanted sex from him, and Hop didn’t want to die here. 

He...didn’t want to die here. Not with Raihan. This wasn’t the Raihan he fell in love with all those years ago. He didn’t recognize this person, this— _ criminal _ . The fact Hop was second guessing himself about all this was only proof that Raihan was getting into his head, and he had to stop that as fucking fast as possible. He couldn’t let Raihan manipulate him. He wouldn’t let Raihan make him feel like his family didn’t love him. Raihan was a  _ liar _ . 

Hop never hugged back, he only breathed, trying to compose himself while Raihan held him, until he finally pulled away. It always felt like Raihan was teasing him, joking with him, with that smile on his face, just to piss Hop off because he thought it was funny, but to see him serious, the rare times that it happened, Hop didn’t know what to think. He didn’t know what to believe, if Raihan really meant what he said, or if he was just trying to play Hop’s sympathy to get bonus points or something. 

It didn’t matter. Hop wasn’t staying here. He refused to rot in this place. 

Raihan leaned in one last time, giving Hop a quick peck on the cheek. “I love you so much, Hop. I just want you to know that I’m doing all of this because I want what’s best for you. Even if you hate me for it, it’s just because I love you.”

That was no excuse.  _ Stop fucking justifying it, you stupid asshole.  _ You could do any horrible thing and say it was done out of love to make it seem less horrifying. Only insane people believed shit like that. 

Rather than reply, Hop only glanced off to the side, refusing eye contact anymore. Their disagreements usually ended this way. Things got heated for a while, the two of them argued, and then Hop receded into himself, not wanting to fan the flames, but also just exhausted from speaking to someone who clearly was not listening. Raihan didn’t get it, and he never would. 

Then, “Hop, how do you feel about going on a date?”

That definitely got his attention. Hop actually looked him in the face at that one, more thrown off by how that came out of left field than anything. “What…” 

With a half-smirk, and a sheepish shrug, Raihan made a small, forced laugh that Hop could tell was just for his sake. “A date? We could do something nice around the apartment together.” 

Hop’s voice sounded so fucking tired when he opened his mouth. “We’re always together…” 

“I meant something more special.”

“Like…?”

Another shrug, and Raihan seemed to have gotten more confident with the idea itself as his smirk widened. “I could buy some fancy dinner for you. We could sit together and watch a movie. I have wine—you can drink if you want. We don’t have to do anything intimate if you don’t want, but we could just spend time together. I’ll take you outside too, and we can look at the stars. If you want me to buy you anything, like movies, or video games, or furniture for your room, just say so.” Seeing Raihan’s cheeks turn red as he rambled on only served to give Hop nausea at how fucked up this was, but he couldn’t look away from the dopey sincerity on his face alone, especially when he leaned in close. “S-so? How about it? Hop, would you like to go on a date?”

Well, Hop had been stewing in the idea of getting Raihan drunk enough to lift his keycard off him, and if he was willing to serve alcohol to him without protest, that was about all Hop had to work on. He didn’t particularly feel like going on a date, because shouldn’t there have been romantic feelings for something like that? Hop had feelings alright, but they definitely couldn't be considered romantic. He didn’t know what he felt anymore. 

This was fucked up. 

And while Hop hated giving in to please Raihan, he also didn’t honestly see anything  _ wrong _ with indulging him for one evening, if it would get him off his back. Other than Hop’s pride suffering, of course, if all Raihan wanted to do was hang out, he could at least make an attempt. It wasn’t like it mattered, but Hop supposed it was better than being forced into having sex with him. The thought that Raihan was causing Hop to see things like this as fine because it wasn’t sex flashed through his mind, but he shook his thoughts away before he could fall down anymore wormholes. No. None of that. 

So, he just shrugged, sighing as he did so, turning down to stare at the blanket. “Whatever.” As long as Raihan wasn’t making him do creepy shit in the bedroom, Hop could put up with one evening of hanging out. 

“Really?” Raihan’s voice jumped up at least two pitches, startling Hop who had gotten used to his low baritone, but he didn’t remember the last time he’d heard him so excited, and it threw him off. 

He tried brushing it off, but glancing back up only allowed him to see how Raihan was absolutely beaming, like he couldn't believe Hop had agreed to this. Hop couldn’t believe it either. “Yeah, whatever, that’s fine.” He swallowed. “J-just don’t...do anything creepy.” 

“I won’t, I promise! Well, we can move into it slowly if we start heading in that direction.” 

Hop glared. “Raihan…fuck you.” 

Despite Hop’s obviously downtrodden outlook on this whole date thing, his sour mood didn’t dampen Raihan’s spirits in the least. Before Hop could react, Raihan leaned into his face before kissing him on the mouth again, his grin never wider. “I love you! And I-I’ll restrain myself, kid. Swear it.” 

Yeah fucking right. Hop rolled his eyes, but Raihan didn’t seem to notice. He was too busy smiling and jittering in his seat, but Hop had grown exhausted merely speaking to him, and gave a loud sigh before crawling back under the blanket. He’d deal with this grave he just dug himself some other time, but right now, he wanted Raihan to shut the hell up, he wanted Rotom to leave him the hell alone, and Hop just wanted to lie there all night and be grumpy. 

With Hop having laid back down, placing his glasses on the nightstand, it wasn’t long that Raihan joined him, resuming the position they’d been in earlier before Hop was pressed against his chest once again, one of Raihan’s arms draped over his waist as he held him close. He wasn’t exactly comfortable, but Hop could do little other than lie there while Raihan whispered in his ear about how much he loved him, kissing random spots of his hair and the side of his face. They lie there for a long time, Raihan mumbling nonsense to him, cooing to him about this and that, and honestly, Hop had zoned out while he went on and on, his low voice somewhat soothing despite everything else, and Hop must have fallen asleep at one point, because when he opened his eyes again, the bedroom was dark. 

Raihan’s arm still fell over his waist, but there was added weight to it, Raihan’s heavy, steady breathing right behind his ear letting Hop know he was fast asleep. When he’d fallen asleep, he had no idea, but he must not have been asleep for very long, as the moonlight was still streaming through the window, creating a small square shape of light on the blanket near the foot of the bed. Hop tried to close his eyes and go back to sleep, but it became apparent very soon that that wasn’t happening. Not only was his throat dry, but he had to pee, and he figured he may as well get out of bed, get some water, and go back to the couch for the rest of the night. Unless he woke up Raihan and he started bitching at him to come back to bed, there was no way Hop was going to come crawling back to his arms for any reason. 

With a sleepy grunt, Hop fully expected to wake Raihan when he moved out from under him, lifting his arm off, but Raihan merely snored in his sleep before rolling over until his back was facing Hop. Not about to waste the opportunity, Hop climbed off the bed, stretching his limbs, and swallowed in an attempt to wet his dry throat. Being as quiet as he was able, he crept across the bedroom, noticing Rotom in sleep mode on the bedside table (that was a false sense of security to lure him in, Hop had come to realize), and couldn’t help to stick his tongue out at the Pokémon before he opened the door, let himself out, and quietly shut it again. Sneaking away like this wasn’t uncommon either, and he’d be greeted with a fucking pouty Raihan in the morning, but that was better than going back to bed. 

Continuing to tiptoe unless he did alert that stupid phone, Hop made his way to his bedroom before shutting himself up in the bathroom, and did his business. He took a moment while he was at the sink to wash his face and get the gross sleep layer off before making his way to the kitchen. It was then he realized he didn’t have his glasses, and silently swore through his teeth, because they were back in Raihan’s bedroom, and Hop wasn’t about to go back in there just for his glasses. He didn't feel like putting his contacts in either, so he’d just have to deal with the fuzzy vision until Raihan got up in the morning. It wasn’t a big deal, but still made him annoyed. 

While he rifled through the fridge for a bottle of water, Hop wet his throat, gulping it down in droves until he was gasping for air and had to back off, before his attention wavered on the drawer he’d snooped through earlier, the one with all the pills. Or the empty bottles, as Raihan had said, that hadn’t been thrown away from some stupid reason. Hop couldn’t help himself. Still being quiet, he gripped the handle of the drawer before sliding it back, hearing a definite rattle of the bottles which indicated there was indeed things inside of them before he set his water down on the counter, lifting one of the generic branded sleep aid bottles. It felt heavy, though didn’t rattle with pills, and Hop popped the cap off, only to almost drop the bottle at what was inside. 

A small bag with what looked like powdered sugar rested at the bottom, and Hop had to swallow the gasp that threatened to escape. He knew Raihan was full of shit—and what better way to hide his stash than in plain sight? Hop never bothered opening these bottles before to actually see what was inside, and seeing the powdered substance only caused his heart to race. 

Could this be the stuff Raihan used to drug him with? It wasn’t labeled, there was no indication of what it even was. It was simply white powder stuffed in a small sandwich bag Raihan had crammed down into the bottle, but Hop couldn’t help to think this  _ had _ to be it. It couldn’t have been fucking sugar, or something stupid like that. Setting the bottle down next to his water, Hop popped open the other bottle, to see a bunch of pills inside. But—they were capsule pills. Usually, the pain relief had tiny labels on every pill, or even prescription stuff had numbers and shit on it, and Hop knew what these generic pain pills usually looked like, and this was not them. 

Who the fuck knew what this even was? Hop wasn’t about to test his theory and swallow one by any means, and he put the ‘pain pills’ back where he found them, his focus being on the powdered substance. It could have been mistaken for sugar, but he pulled the tiny bag out, unraveling it enough he could peel it apart before Hop reached inside, dabbing a small amount of powder into the pad of his finger before he drew it up to his mouth and licked it.

Well. It wasn’t sugar, that was for damn sure. It didn't have a taste at all, nor did it seem to have an odor. This was all skeevy and fishy as hell, and Hop knew in his gut this was something meant for rendering people unconscious. It  _ had _ to be. 

If he could...slip this into Raihan’s drink, he might just be able to get him so fucked up, he wouldn’t come after him when Hop stole his keycard. If this stuff even was a narcotic. Hop had no idea what in the hell this was, and if he drugged Raihan with it, he might accidentally kill him—and Hop didn’t want to do that. That sure would make it easier getting out of here, but he didn’t want to  _ kill _ the fucking guy. Even if he was a gross pervert. 

Hop sighed. 

He didn’t have much hope on his side, nobody was coming to find him anytime soon, and he was low on options in terms of escape. Whether this stuff turned out to actually be something he could use to knock Raihan the fuck out, he would just have to test it and see. The worst that could happen was he accidentally killed him, and even then, Hop would be able to steal the card and leave. If this didn’t do anything to him, or if it made him the ‘happy’ kind of high, then Hop was fucked either way. 

It was sink or swim, Hop had nothing to lose by trying, so he quickly stuffed the bag back into the bottle, capping it before returning things to their proper place once again. Maybe this whole date thing Raihan was prattling on about would work in his favor. Hop would have to be smart about it, though. If he was planning to drug him, he needed that stupid phone out of the way, he needed Raihan to get drunk, and he needed to slip the powder into his drink to get him fucked up enough that he was unconscious and wouldn’t chase after him once Hop stole the card and hightailed it out of here. Then there was still the problem of navigating the castle itself, and getting out. Then...Hop didn’t know where he’d go, but he would just go. 

Hop sucked in a breath. That was a lot of shit he had to account for, and a lot of luck he needed in order to pull something like this off. If he got sloppy with it, Raihan might lock him up in his bedroom for good, or do something way worse to him that Hop didn’t even want to imagine. If he found out Hop was planning to drug him—who knew what he’d do. Hop shivered, but he forced himself away from the drawer. 

This was going to be hell. But, Hop would try. If nobody was coming to his rescue, he could at least say he tried to escape, and if he fucked up, if Raihan got angry with him, then so be it. Hop wasn’t going down without a fight. 

He sighed, trying to still his heartbeat that was escalating while his mind raced with how in the ever loving  _ fuck _ he was going to pull this off. 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh i had so much fun writing this!! i was so excited to share it with you guys, please enjoy! :D

To say Hop was anxious the next few days was grossly underselling it. Hop was no stranger to being nervous, whether from getting a shot at the doctor, the anticipation of getting the shot sending him into a fit of nerves rather than the act itself, to worrying about passing a class in school, he was well aware of those types of stress. There was also the fear type of stress, like when he’d been little and accidentally broke something in the house by being rowdy with Leon, only to face the wrath of their mother once she found out Hop had broken her favorite flower vase their grandparents had given her. The fear of repercussions was tangible, Hop remembering how he’d been punished by Mum not allowing him out of his room for a long time. 

No play time. No stimulation. Not even Leon could visit to comfort him while he sat in time out for that. 

Those were all rather shallow examples of what Hop had experienced as far as being nervous went, but nothing—fucking  _ nothing _ —could have prepared him for the following week in the tower. 

The pills resting in the kitchen drawer were always at the forefront of Hop’s mind, and he worried he might accidentally reveal to Raihan that he’d found his stash, the anxiety leaving him lying awake at night until he was exhausted from sleep loss. At least Raihan stayed true to his word and bought Hop sleep aid, along with fresh vegetables. Only a few days of eating something other than sugar, and Hop could already feel his body thanking him for the much-needed fuel. Raihan insisted their  _ date  _ (Hop shivered) happen on a Friday night for some stupid reason. Time meant little to nothing here, so Hop didn’t understand why he wanted to wait for a specific day, but it was probably some scant attempt to keep things as normal as possible, however fucking possible that even was. Hop tried not to dwell on the fact Raihan was going out of his way to make this ‘normal’, but waiting until Friday gave Hop a chance to plan what the hell he was even going to do, at the cost of his mental well-being. This was making him sick to his stomach, and Raihan had even caught on to Hop’s change in demeanor, asking him more than once if he were alright, or needed medicine if he felt sick. 

Fuck. Hop couldn’t let his emotions show, lest Raihan find out what he was up to, but it was so hard pretending like he wasn’t planning to drug him the moment he could. How could Hop possibly keep calm under so much pressure? If the thought alone was causing him this much heartache, he dreaded to think of how the hell he was going to actually go through with it. What was he going to do—toss powder in Raihan’s drink while he wasn’t looking? He thought about popping open a can of beer from the fridge and pouring that in, but Raihan would know his shit had been tampered with. 

Hop sighed. There was so much to account for. From actually stealing enough of the powder Raihan didn’t catch on, to putting it in his drink when he wasn’t looking. How the hell—how the utter  _ hell _ did Hop think this would work? 

Yet it had been so easy when Raihan did this to him. They’d been in public for fuck’s sake. There were people around, people who weren’t paying attention (Hop included), and Raihan still managed to drug Hop without his knowledge. So, if Raihan could pull that off, then Hop could do this. He had to. It was the only way to ensure he got the fuck out of here alive. 

There were nagging thoughts hitting the back of his head that Raihan would come after him, probably to kill him so that Hop couldn’t blab about what had happened, but while Hop didn’t know what he was going to do, he’d at least start by making it out of the castle. Then he could go from there. Taking out Raihan was his first priority, and running to safety after that could be planned out later. Hop was trying to take this one step at a time, but he was still struggling on how to drug Raihan in the first place. While he didn’t have to wait for the date to happen before he attempted this by any means, he figured if Raihan was going to bring out the alcohol, that was Hop’s best hope. 

For now, he focused on keeping calm. Get him drunk, indulge Raihan as much as possible until he got him loosened up, then maybe he would be too hammered to notice Hop drugging his drink. It wasn’t a good plan, Hop had every opportunity to fuck it up, but it was all he had. Maybe when the time came, he would force himself to wait it out, at least stay on alert until Raihan let his guard down. 

Then he’d steal the keycard and run. Run like hell. 

Ugh. This plan sucked, but Hop really didn’t know what else to do. The week both flew by and moved like Hop had waded through sludge at the same time, until it was Friday. Hop was once again seated on the couch, his party now at level seventy, and he still didn’t feel prepared for the final boss fight. He grinded and grinded all day, his mind a million miles away while he aimlessly gathered experience points, until the unmistakable sound of that fucking Rotom buzzed, Raihan’s loud footsteps signifying his return home, and Hop slammed the DS shut for probably the thousandth time since he’d been here. 

It was Friday evening, and he didn’t feel prepared at all. The only thing he could do then was focus on breathing and try to pretend he wasn’t about to have a nervous breakdown. Raihan had gone out earlier for food, and Hop didn’t know if he was bringing fast food home, or what he planned to do, but considering Raihan’s track record, Hop figured his idea of a fancy dinner was going to the slightly  _ more _ expensive fast food place. Maybe he got him a hotdog, who the fuck knew. 

The television droned on about the weather, Hop barely paying it any mind. Hop chucked the DS across the sofa, his chest tightening up when Raihan called out to him, and he never responded, though it wasn’t long Raihan poked his head through the doorway, shooting him a grin which Hop did not return. 

“Hey, kid! I got food.” He pulled a small box from one of his shopping bags, shaking where Hop could hear the contents rattling. “And got you some chocolate. The good stuff, not the crappy convenience store kind.” 

This would normally be the part where Hop expressed his gratitude for the sweets, but considering the person who bought them also continued to hold him captive, it was all Hop could do to bite his tongue and not spit out a venomous  _ fuck you.  _ Raihan didn’t appear to notice Hop’s rather lackluster enthusiasm, but he never did honestly. If Hop expressed any emotion leading Raihan to believe he was upset, he smothered him in some feeble attempt to make things better, but when Hop was angry or apathetic, Raihan more often than not gave him his space if needed. He was an idiot, but a perceptive idiot. Actually, Hop couldn’t quite figure out if Raihan was stupid or a genius. If he’d managed to get away with this as long as he had, that spoke volumes more about Raihan than anyone else, though Hop tried not to think of it in terms of his intellect. Nobody who did things like this should’ve been praised for pulling it off, but Hop couldn’t help to mull over it a lot. 

He didn’t have much else to do anyway. 

With no response given, Raihan soon ducked back out of the living room where Hop could hear him fumbling around in the kitchen. He stayed put on the sofa, that stupid Rotom eyeing him with suspicious regard, until Hop shot a glare at it. 

“Don’t you have somebody’s ass to crawl up? Namely _ his? _ ” Rotom merely hovered mockingly out of reach of Hop, giving him a jeering expression before following after Raihan toward the kitchen. 

The sweat that prickled the back of Hop’s neck was followed by a cold chill, and he wondered if Rotom could pick up on how visibly shaken he was. Hop wasn’t trying to act like this in front of the both of them on purpose, but his anxiety would not let him have a moment’s rest, even with all the sleep aid Raihan had purchased for him, Hop hadn’t gotten a decent night’s sleep since he found the drugs in the kitchen. 

Speaking of that. 

His trouser pocket housed a small bag he had stolen from the kitchen. Not the entire bag itself, as Hop didn’t want to accidentally kill Raihan (even if he deserved it, honestly), but he had nicked a sandwich bag from under the sink where he emptied enough he felt would be plenty to incapacitate Raihan, and he was so paranoid Rotom would somehow know what he had hidden in his pocket, that he was sweating bullets. There was no bulge, as Hop had flattened the bag, and there wasn’t much powder in it to begin with, but he still feared Raihan would somehow know—he would just know. Either he would go for his stash and realized some of it was missing, or he would accidentally brush against Hop and feel his pocket, or worse—he would just get handsy with him until he felt it, busting Hop. It was like the stupid sandwich bag hidden in his pocket was a beacon, a beacon that Raihan would eventually see, either him or his phone, and Hop didn’t want to think of the consequences if Raihan were to catch him doing this. 

Fuck. He was so bad at this. Hop had never done anything like this before, and there were too many opportunities for him to completely fuck up. While Hop had nothing to lose by trying, he still feared evoking Raihan’s wrath. Neither of them had much to lose in this situation, so Raihan could always just off him if he felt the need. He could kill the fuck out of him, dump his body in a lake somewhere, and people would just assume Hop got swarmed by wild Pokémon and met his end that way. 

Hop must have been lost in his thoughts for a good while, because Raihan called out to him, and he shook himself from his thoughts, his heart pounding. This was going to be the most uncomfortable evening of his life, he knew, but he sucked in a huge breath, touched his pocket to make sure the bag was still flattened inside (it was), and exhaled to try a last ditch attempt to calm the nerves swelling up inside of him. 

Okay. He could do this. He had to. Hop didn’t want to die here with this man. He didn’t want to spend the rest of his life locked up, putting up with some gross pervert who only wanted his ass and nothing more. Yeah, Hop could argue with himself being kidnapped wouldn’t be anymore fun if Raihan  _ didn’t  _ choose to fuck him whenever he wanted, as he would still be a prisoner, but—oh, his mind was going off again. Maybe Hop was subconsciously trying to procrastinate so that this entire ordeal wouldn’t even happen, but he had to stay focused. 

Focus. Focus… 

Again, he sucked in air. 

Okay. 

He could do this. 

Hop exhaled, crossing the threshold when he did so until he’d made his way into the kitchen. Rotom floated overhead, eyeing him the moment he walked in. Seriously, that stupid Pokémon had been on high alert ever since Hop tried to snag it from Raihan’s pocket that one time, and it hadn’t let its guard down since. If anyone was paranoid here, it was Rotom. The Pokémon was easy to ignore when Raihan shot Hop a grin, gesturing toward an array of shopping bags he’d strewn over the place. He had placed a few pots on the stove, one currently heating up with water, and another empty one right beside it. A bag of rice rested against the counter, along with curry powder, and some vegetables. 

Raihan’s grin widened. “Hey! I figured we could try to cook our food for once. I know it’s not fancy or anything, but it’s probably been ages since you’ve had a home cooked meal, right?” Was he...blushing? Hop tried not to dwell on it too much, but he swore he saw Raihan’s cheeks glow red for a moment. His grin turned sheepish—almost bashful when Raihan rubbed at the back of his neck. “Ah—I thought it’d be nice if we cooked it together. What do you think?” 

Hop shrugged, hoping Raihan didn’t notice how much he was sweating. The shivers that so desperately wanted to come out were making Hop grit his teeth as he fought to keep his cool. Stealing the powder was one thing, but being in front of Raihan’s scrutinizing stare was another. It was like he had x-ray vision and would just  _ know _ . Hop didn’t understand why he was so paranoid Raihan would magically figure out what he had hidden in his pocket and would swoop in, catch him, and grow angry, but he kept expecting the rug to be ripped out from under his feet any second and he didn’t know how much more of this he could take. Poor sleep be damned, just knowing what he had to do eventually was enough to make him want to vomit. 

For now, he knew he had to keep it cool, as hard as it was, Hop steeled himself before crossing the space of the kitchen until he was right next to Raihan. His phone hovered over the both of them, eyeing Hop in particular, and he worried Rotom might actually know what he’d done and would alert Raihan any second now. He knew he wasn’t acting very innocent, but maybe he could give the excuse he was just nervous about the date (as horrible as that idea made him retch), Hop had to keep Raihan happy if he hoped to let his guard down. He was going to have to put his own comfort aside to do this, whether he failed or not, but Hop would try his fucking hardest. 

He would die here otherwise. As awful as that thought was, it was the one thought that kept repeating itself over and over in his head, it was drive enough for Hop to keep his damn focus for five seconds, until he was picking up the box of curry powder from the countertop. 

Before he could speak, Raihan was already flapping his trap. “You love the milder curry, right?”

How the fuck Raihan knew that, Hop didn’t want to ask, but he gave a slow nod despite his skin crawling. Raihan had often said things to Hop that gave him the impression he had been watching him for a long time, and it was all he could do to keep the bile from rising in his stomach when he suspected Raihan might have stalked him without Hop’s knowledge. The times he had been with Gloria, going on their adventures like normal, all the while, Hop sometimes got a creeping sensation someone was following them, yet never seeing anything or anyone suspicious—but maybe that paranoia held some weight after all. 

That was another problem for another time. 

“Do you want to chop some vegetables while I take care of the rice?” What a bold move for Raihan to give Hop a knife, but they both knew he didn’t have the balls to stab him, at least not in an instance where Hop could get away with it. Nodding again, he took a small knife handed off to him by Raihan as he busied himself tipping the bag of rice in to boil. Hop moved to the opposite end of the counter, grabbing a cutting board before dicing a few carrots. Raihan had bought peppers too, but Hop didn’t care for them. Before he knew it, he had created a small pile of vegetables which he dumped into smaller bowls to be used for later. 

This was all very strange. No, Hop wasn’t a stranger to cooking itself, as he had started honing his skills being out on his own, he had to take responsibility and feed his Pokémon, after all. Hop was no gourmet chef by any means, but he could manage at least boiling and cooking over a fire enough to make sure they at least had rice for dinner. Cooking for himself and his partner Pokémon had been one thing, but cooking with Raihan was… 

Daring to let his gaze fall over to where Raihan busied himself with miscellaneous tasks, such as taking care of the rice, pulling a few bottles of wine from the fridge, and plates for the food itself—it was so...  _ normal _ . Even calling it normal felt wrong, like Hop was somehow diminishing the fact he was being held captive in the first place, but he hadn’t cooked with somebody else in the kitchen since he’d been at home with his mother. Sometimes he would help Mum with dinner, but it wasn’t until Leon came home that things got really creative in the kitchen. Ever since he’d been gone, Hop’s brother had definitely garnered the skills worthy of being called a chef, which was surprising considering his brother only lived for battling, but Hop had been surprised by his skills the last time he came home, and had wanted to follow in his footsteps, practice cooking whenever he was out in the wild, and make a dish he could be proud of. 

That was only a minor goal compared to actually facing Leon off in the pitch itself, but still something Hop held in the back of his mind. To be here with Raihan, the air between them awkward to say the last, as neither brought up any conversation, Hop felt so out of place, yet normal at the same time. It was so strange, and stupid. Cooking with his kidnapper. Somehow, it seemed like such a dissonant reality that Hop wasn’t even partaking in, because it was so fucking  _ bizarre _ . Like, people didn’t cook with their kidnappers. People didn’t live with them for three months without any help arriving whatsoever. 

No, when shit like this happened, people were put in dungeons, starved, beaten every day if they weren’t murdered first, and the police would come to the rescue a few days later at the very latest. The person responsible would be carted off to prison. People like Raihan didn’t just  _ keep _ people like Hop here. Didn’t give them a room, video games, buy them sweets to eat, and let them cook dinner. 

Hop’s palms shook, and he had to set the knife down, his thoughts going off on him once again. He had a few bowls full of different vegetables by this point, including carrots, radishes, and spinach, but if he didn’t get out of his own head soon, he might go crazy. It was hard when Raihan insisted they cook together, something that was so innocent seeming, something Hop could see domestic couples doing together. People who were in love. People in relationships. 

Hop swallowed, eyes trailing back up when Raihan was suddenly by his side, forcing him out of his thoughts when he leered down at the supply of diced veggies. “Ohh, that looks great, kid. Wanna mix them in with the curry?” 

Nodding, Hop kept busy, trying not to let his nerves and daydreams overwhelm him. He had to keep this as normal as possible, as much as it pained him. 

Cooking didn’t take very long, thankfully. Hop was nervous as it was, and while he didn’t think he could stomach much, he had to force himself to eat so that Raihan didn’t suspect anything was amiss. The powder in his pocket was ever-present on his mind, Hop overly aware of the small bag pushed against his thigh, and he swallowed the nerves away as best he could when they finally settled down to eat at the table. Honestly, the food  _ did _ look good, and smelled good to boot. It wasn’t very extravagant or anything like that, but Hop missed eating home cooked curry, and ate a spoonful, his mouth watering at the slight spice of the radish and curry hitting his tongue. It wasn’t too hot, but enough of a kick for him to continue eating. 

“Is it good?” Raihan spoke from across the table, Hop not paying him much mind as he forced down a few more bites of his rice. Hopefully, having food on his stomach would help calm his nerves. 

He nodded, not looking up, not speaking back, but thankfully, Raihan didn’t press him to talk, and the two ate in relative silence. Frankly, the curry was a comfort in itself, just the warmth, even the slight spice of it all quelled Hop’s fears, until he had eaten half his plate already. 

“Were you starving?” The sudden question gave Hop pause, until he lifted his face to finally initiate eye contact with Raihan who was about halfway done with his food as well, but had stopped as he eyed Hop with what he could only describe as a worried expression. “Babe, did you eat at all today?”

Biting his bottom lip, Hop forced his gaze back toward his food. If he just focused on eating, everything would be okay. “I-I didn’t. I mean—I wasn’t very hungry.” That wasn’t a lie. Hop had been a nervous wreck all day, how the hell did he expect to be able to snack at a time like this? 

“Mmm.” Raihan hummed before leaning back down to continue eating. “We should cook together more often then. Would you like that, Hop? I’m not very good at it, but we could learn together.”

Had Raihan been saying these words to him any other time, had he just come to Hop from the beginning, confessed his feelings (if they were even real), and asked Hop this while they were out on a genuine date, had Hop not been locked up and forced to have sex with Raihan against his will, he would have cried in joy to be asked such a thing. Of course, he would  _ love _ to cook with Raihan. He would  _ love _ to learn something like that together. He would be so elated to make dishes with him, even if they messed them up, he would be so happy to learn the ropes along with someone he loved. 

Hop’s heart thumped, but not in anxiety for once. It ached, it pained him to hear Raihan say things like this to him, because he desperately wanted it. He wanted so much for the two of them to be together, to go on dates like any normal couple, for Raihan to come visit him in Postwick, for Hop to travel to Hammerlocke where the two could do whatever they wanted. Hop wanted that so much that it caused his chest to tighten. 

But he merely sighed, having only a spoonful of rice left, but couldn’t bring himself to finish it now. Not when those dreams were crushed into dust, when Raihan had done so many awful things to him, when Hop had gotten so desperate, he had stolen narcotics from him, planning to drug his drink the next chance he got. 

Maybe with the old Raihan, Hop would have leaped at an opportunity to cook with him, but with the  _ real _ Raihan, now that Hop knew how he really was, he could only answer honestly, even if it was painful. 

“No. Not really.” 

There was a moment Hop could have sworn he heard Raihan shift in his seat, the chair scraping against the linoleum before he let out a soft, disappointed sigh. “Oh,” was all he said. 

And it made Hop feel guilty. What the fuck did he expect him to say? That yes, Hop would leap into his arms all of a sudden? Raihan made no sense sometimes, and Hop couldn’t help to think maybe he was truly insane. He was trying so hard to create a normal, domestic environment for Hop, minus the captivity, but it just wasn’t going to happen. Hop could never see himself becoming comfortable with any of this. At the very least, he was putting up with it, but he wasn’t happy here. He wasn’t happy with Raihan. He lived in fear for the moments Raihan wanted to be intimate, because he knew even if he begged him not to, told him no, he wasn’t ready for something like that, he didn’t want to have sex, Hop’s opinions didn’t matter. Raihan would get what he wanted one way or another. 

And it only proved to Hop that Raihan didn’t really love him. He was only interested in what Hop could give him, and he would take it whether Hop was okay with it or not. That wasn’t love. None of this was love. It was fucking insane. 

It wasn’t a good idea to let these depressing thoughts cloud over, but Hop couldn’t help it. Setting his spoon down, he could no longer eat, and pushed his plate away. At the same time, Raihan finished the last bite of his food, also pushing his plate away before standing from his chair. “Finished?”

Hop nodded. 

“Wanna head to the sofa? We could watch a movie. I’ll bring the wine if you’ll give me a second.”

Another nod, and Hop lifted out of his own chair this time, pushing it back under the table. He didn’t really like leaving dirty dishes on the table, as Raihan had a bad habit of leaving trash out that Hop would take care of himself out of some weird need to keep the place as tidy as possible. It didn’t make sense, and he didn’t bother questioning why he did it, but he could do the dishes later after—

Wait—why the fuck was Hop thinking of doing the dishes when he planned to escape? That thought horrified him for some reason, only reminding him that he was getting too used to this life now. Hop didn’t  _ want _ to get used to any of this. Not this apartment. Not Raihan. Not any of it. 

Burying that shit down as far as it would go, Hop made his way to the living room, plopping down on the sofa, and moved the DS somewhere Raihan wouldn’t sit on it and crush the damn thing with his butt before he picked up the remote and surfed through the channels. He had no idea what Raihan planned for them to watch, but he was sweating again, especially since Rotom followed him in, giving Hop even more paranoia that the stupid phone knew what he was up to, and was breathing down his neck twice as much to catch him in the act. Well, there was no damn way that Hop was going to get away with spiking Raihan’s drink if Rotom were hanging around. 

Hop swallowed, his throat tight, heart pounding again when he heard Raihan’s footsteps from down the hall before he entered the living room, holding two glasses. One was full of red wine, which Hop assumed was for him, and the other was...something brown. It looked like tea, but Hop knew it wasn’t tea. It was probably some of that liquor Raihan had tucked down into his cabinets, but when he brought the glasses over, setting them down on the coffee table, Hop caught a strong whiff of the brown stuff in Raihan’s glass and almost gagged at how strong it smelled. 

When Raihan settled down next to him, Hop noticed his palms shaking, and tried his hardest to compose himself. Holy fuck, he hadn’t even  _ done _ anything yet, but he was still so nervous Raihan might feel him up and discover the powder in his pocket. He didn’t put it past him to start touching him whenever he wanted, as no amount of Raihan gushing about how he’d stay in check and keep his hands to himself would cause Hop to believe him. Still, he fought to keep his cool, despite the cold sweat gathering at the nape of his neck, his forehead, and his arms breaking out into goosebumps. 

Try as he might, Hop forced himself to remain as normal as possible, and worried Raihan might catch onto the fact he was forcing himself to be normal in the first place. Fuck, could Hop stop overthinking every little thing he did for five damn seconds? “Wh-what did you want to watch?” He flipped through some wrestling match, immediately saying fuck no to himself when he did, passing by the cartoons, and finally switched to a Pokémon professor with a Kalos accent who appeared to be on some kind of interview about his latest findings. Hop didn’t know what the hell to settle on, and just wished Raihan would give him guidance on that end. 

Instead, he was met with a shrug. “It’s up to you, babe. If you wanna watch cartoons, go for it.” Leaning back, Raihan took hold of his glass of liquor before downing about half of it in one go, and Hop thought his heart was going to palpitate out of his chest. Oh fuck. Oh fuckohfuckohfuck—for Raihan to already be going that hard, how in the utter complete fuck did Hop think he had a chance of drugging his drink? This was so out of his hands, he felt like he’d failed before he’d even begun. 

Still, he composed himself long enough to nod and respond. “O-okay.” He flipped the channel back to a nature documentary about the wild Pokémon that appeared in a wintery part of Galar Hop had never seen before. It wasn’t a romance movie or anything like that, as Hop was pretty sure when you went on dates, you at least watched something that got you in a romantic mood. That was the staple, anyway, but so far, this didn't even feel like a date, not that Hop had ever even been on one and knew what to go off of, but Raihan did say at first it was more an excuse for them to hang out, and that’s what they were doing, so…he couldn’t really say this was absolutely awful. It might have even been nice, had he not been forcibly locked up in a tower with a pervert. 

“Ohh, I’ve always wanted to go there.” Raihan’s sudden comment threw him off, Hop glancing out of the corner of his eye to see Raihan was almost done with his first glass, meanwhile, Hop hadn’t even touched his wine. “A little too cold for me, but for like a vacation or something, there’s a nice town there with cabins you can rent.” Another swallow of his drink, Raihan tipping his head back when he downed it in one gulp. “Maybe one day we could go there, babe.” 

Hop tried not to cringe, but it was practically impossible not to when he gripped hold of the remote even harder than before. He didn’t bother answering. His sweaty palms were enough of a reason to change the channel to a cooking show. Nope, Hop flicked that off as well. None of that either. Eventually, Hop did settle on a movie, but it appeared to be a fantasy movie with medieval people who were dressed up as knights wielding swords and the like. Whatever. That was as good as anything, and Hop kind of figured Raihan wasn’t really paying attention to what was on the telly anyway. 

With his glass empty, Raihan huffed before rising off the couch. “Be right back.” He ducked out of the living room, leaving Hop on the couch by himself as Rotom floated around him, never once dropping that suspicious expression, and Hop frowned at it, his heart beating when he figured that damn thing would sound the alarm any moment, and Raihan would find the bag in his pocket. Fuck—he needed to be careful about this. He had a compulsion to pat his pocket, but didn’t want to give Rotom anymore reason to be wary of him, so he instead leaned forward, taking hold of his glass before sipping some of the red wine. Oh jeez—he grimaced, knowing he had scrunched his face back in disgust. It tasted awful. Hop had sips of bubbly beer and stuff before, but never wine. It all tasted like garbage, in his opinion, and he just hoped Raihan didn’t push for him to actually drink the stuff. This whole escape thing wouldn’t work out great if Hop was hammered in the process. 

No, he needed his wits about him, and he focused his gaze on the telly, trying to will away his nerves when Raihan returned, a fresh glass of liquor filled to the brim before he settled back down on the sofa. He shot Hop a glance, mouth curling into a half smirk as he eyed the wine glass. “Don’t like it?”

Hop shrugged, not sure what to say to get him off his back, so he just said the truth. “It’s a little bitter.”

“I have sweet stuff too, if you want that.” 

Shaking his head, Hop didn’t dare remove his gaze from the telly, trying to focus on the knights in the movie fighting a giant terrorizing dragon Pokémon. “N-no, it’s fine.” 

“I don’t mind getting you something else, Hop. Here.” Without waiting for a reply, Raihan reached over to grab Hop’s glass, standing from his spot on the couch before disappearing out of the living room once more. 

Fuck. 

Fuck. Fucking  _ fuck _ . This could have been Hop’s chance to dump the powder into his drink—if it weren’t for the fact Rotom was hovering over his shoulder the entire fucking time. Goddammit, Hop was shivering again, wishing that damn phone would leave him in peace for one second, and shot it another glare out of frustration. “Leave me alone already. Go bother him for once in your life.” 

If Rotom had eyebrows, they’d probably be arched in mocking contempt, but it didn’t obey. Not that Hop expected it to, and he sighed, the sounds of Raihan fumbling around in the kitchen reaching his ears as he heard him pulling out bottles from the fridge. Dammit. This was his chance. This was Hop’s chance to fucking dump the powder into his drink, and he  _ couldn’t _ , because of that stupid phone. Fuck Raihan’s Rotom. Fuck it. 

His palms started sweating again, until Hop had to wipe them on his shorts to readjust his grip on the remote. It was so obvious he was nervous as hell, but he couldn’t believe this. If it weren’t for Rotom, Hop could have had plenty of time to spike Raihan’s drink by this point, but he let out an annoyed sigh, trying not to be so impatient. This was a very complicated matter, and he couldn’t just rush it if he had any hopes of success. Hop had to bide his time, take baby steps, and just hope and pray if nothing else, Raihan would get fucked up on the alcohol alone. 

Fat chance, but Hop had to have hope somewhere in this bleak, miserable place. 

After about five minutes of rummaging around in the kitchen, Raihan returned with a fresh glass, the contents bubbling with fizz before he set it down in front of Hop, giving him an encouraging smile. “Try this. It’s sweeter.” 

Hesitantly, Hop reached out, taking the glass and bringing it to his lips before he took a sip. Oh. That was better, actually. It reminded him of soda, yet the underlying taste of the alcohol was still there, it was nowhere near as bitter as the wine had been. 

Settling back down on the sofa, Raihan grinned. “How do you like it?”

Hoping his sweaty palms weren’t noticeable when they left an imprint on the glass, Hop took one more gulp before setting it back down on the coffee table. “It’s sweet.” 

“Glad you like it. Drink up, kid. Get shitfaced if you want. We don’t gotta do nothing special tonight, so just go wild.” 

There was nothing Hop wanted to do more than go wild, but he had to keep his inhibitions in check if he had any hope of coming out of this ordeal without Raihan discovering his plans. Fuck, he missed an opportunity to spike his drink, and Hop was still grumpy about it, his anxiety soon returning when Rotom continue buzzing around the pair, never far from hovering in the backdrop as the two of them drank their drinks. Well—Hop sipped his, Raihan was already gulping down yet another glass, and leaned back against the couch to spread his legs. 

Hop worried after drinking too much, he might want sex from him. He had never seen Raihan get too terribly drunk, but he tended to get hornier the drunker he became, so either Hop had to get him to drink more than he normally did and hope for the best, or find room to drug his drink already. Usually, depending on the alcohol of choice, Raihan would get about three glasses in before slurring, or stumbling around like an idiot. 

Hop’s chances were running slimmer by the minute, and it only made his heart pound harder. He had to think of something fast. Think—think—what the fuck could he say or do?

“U-um…” And his mouth was running before Hop’s brain could catch up, voice quivering, and he prayed Raihan didn’t ask him why he was so nervous. Arceus knew he’d fucking jump over hoops to ensure Hop’s ‘comfort’, thereby making this entire situation ten times worse. “C-could you make Rotom leave or something?”

“Mmm?” Out of the corner of his eye, Hop caught the sight of Raihan leaning his head over to face him. 

“It’s making me nervous.” He wasn’t even stopping to think about what he was saying before he said it, but Hop kept his eyes firmly glued to the television screen, the knights now venturing into some dank cave, but his heart was about to burst out his chest, it was pounding so hard. “You said this was supposed to be relaxing and whatnot.” His grip on his glass tightened, Hop biting his bottom lip to try and level himself. “I’m not very relaxed when something is constantly hanging over my shoulder watching me.”

Raihan might consider that suspicious and tell Hop no, or worse, question him why he wanted that damn phone to leave in the first place, but to his utter surprise, Raihan threw his head back to steal at glance at Rotom who was indeed hovering over the two and nodded. “Yeah, it kind of is a little uncomfortable. Hang on, I’ll go put it in my room where it won’t bother us.” 

Oh fuck. 

Hop’s eyes widened, not believing Raihan had gone along with this, and his sweaty hands were causing his grip to falter on his glass until he had to put it on the table once more, wiping his palms against his shorts. Hop had never been this jittery or sweaty before, but then again, he had never drugged a person, much less his kidnapper, before either. He tried not to let his surprise show on his face, only kept his eyes on the telly. Don’t fuck this up.  _ Do not fuck this up _ . Raihan was about to give him an opportunity, Hop could not afford to squander. 

Raihan stood up, waving over his Rotom who floated into his hand without question, before he swiped it open, no doubt a reflex to check his socials, before rounding the corner out of the room yet again. Hop was about to hyperventilate right then and there as he waited with bated breath for Raihan to get enough distance down the hall before Hop sprang to life, reaching down into his pocket to draw out the powder. His heart was thumping so hard that it was painful, and it was all he could do to stop from breathing so heavily, his throat tight, his entire neck covered in cold sweat, every hair standing on end as he moved to Raihan’s drink, the glass almost halfway empty by this point, but not quite there yet, before he tipped the powder over into it. 

Down the hall, he could hear Raihan’s bedroom door opening and closing as he put his Rotom away, then his footsteps sounded again, and Hop quickly stuffed the bag back into his pocket, sitting back down on the couch, and couldn’t help to watch in complete fascination as the powder completely disappeared into Raihan’s drink. He didn’t have to stir, shake—it seemingly evaporated on sight, and that should have horrified Hop way more than it did, but he just hoped to whatever god would listen to him that it would be enough to bring Raihan down without killing him. 

Please.  _ Please _ , he just hoped this worked. 

Not a moment later, Raihan entered, stumbling over his feet for a moment before plopping back down on the sofa, and that was a sign he was getting drunk, but he gave Hop a smile when he settled, Hop trying his absolute damndest not to appear frazzled by that entire thing. Because he did it. He fucking did it. He actually got it in Raihan’s drink—holy fuck, he was going to pass out, but he couldn’t. Hop had to keep his cool, he had to control himself and not freak the fuck out. What if Raihan knew he drugged him, what if he took a sip and realized? 

Hop’s palms were shaking again, and this time, Raihan took notice. “Babe, you doing okay?” He reached over, taking Hop’s hand in his own, and fuck, Hop hadn’t wanted him to catch on, but there was literally nothing he could do to calm down right now. Fucking nothing. 

The most he could do was lie. “I-I’m fine. J-just nervous.” Well, that wasn’t a lie really. He was scared to death, wishing Raihan would down that entire glass right now, pass out, and Hop could get the fuck out of here. 

“Nervous about what? Are you scared I’m going to fuck you?”

The way Raihan could so casually say things like that never failed to throw Hop for a loop, and he shot his head up, all prior nerves momentarily snuffed out. “I…” He didn’t know how to reply, but Raihan was in his face before he could, causing Hop to freeze where he sat. 

“Hop, I promise, even if things get a little raunchy tonight, I’m not going to fuck you. If you want me to, though, I’ll suck your cock for you.” His words were slurred, but the sincerity was there, and the way he said that sent Hop’s face blazing, until he shook his head. 

“N-no! I don’t want that.”

“You never do.” Raihan made an almost irritated sigh before reaching over to grab his glass, gulping most of it down in one go, and Hop thought his heart would leap out of his chest, not even concerned with how Raihan more or less snapped at him just then. “Wish you’d stop being so scared of me, kid, I told you a million times that I wasn’t interested in hurting you. If you just enjoy yourself, it’d be so much better on you without you thinking it’s something awful.” 

The way he justified it, Hop couldn’t help his spite that surfaced, his stare lingering on the glass as Raihan finished it off, appearing to not have noticed any of the powder Hop dumped into it. “I can’t...help it.” He said that with a lot more reservation than he meant, his focus being on Raihan’s glass, but it slipped out before he could think of what he was saying, and Raihan let out a sigh. Hop wasn’t even focused on their conversation, his gaze completely transfixed to Raihan’s glass.

Was that enough powder? Did he notice the taste? Was there a taste? Would that even be enough to knock him out, or did Hop overdo it and possibly killed him? A million questions like that raced through his mind, even when Raihan turned to face him with lidded, clouded eyes, Hop’s heart and mind were both going at full speed, until he was only concerned with that shit taking Raihan out  _ right this second _ . 

“I know, Hop. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t expect you to get used to this life so quickly when it’s only been a few months. I know it's a big adjustment on your part. But, you have to believe me when I tell you that I love you more than anything. I would never hurt you, baby.” 

Before Hop could react, Raihan leaned forward, kissing him on the mouth as he tousled some of Hop’s hair in his fingers before he backed away and stood from the couch. This time, he quite literally stumbled over his feet, his leg hitting the coffee table, and caused Hop to jump up out of reflex to stop his glass from tumbling over. Raihan swayed to regain his balance and made a beeline for the kitchen, but not after mumbling several swears under his breath from having bashed his knee. 

He was heading for his third glass, and Hop swallowed, wondering how long the narcotic would take to affect him, and thought back to when he’d been in the cafe with Raihan. Though the details were fuzzy on his part, it hadn’t taken long at all for Hop to drink his coffee before he blacked out once they were outside. Maybe ten, fifteen minutes at the most. Hop only prayed he would get that lucky for Raihan to become fucked up, but he took a sip of his own drink, hoping if anything that the alcohol would calm him down somewhat. 

Hop couldn’t help to wipe his mouth on his sleeve where Raihan just kissed him, hoping that would be the last time he  _ ever _ had to do something like that, but not knowing what to expect when Raihan stumbled over himself in the kitchen, the sounds audible enough for Hop to pick up on the fact he was having trouble getting himself a third glass. Maybe that was a sign the narcotic was taking effect? Hell, he didn’t know. Hop didn’t  _ know _ . He didn’t want to get his hopes up anything would even happen, but he couldn’t help how his stomach was twisted into knots with anxiety when he wished Raihan would fucking drop onto the ground and pass out already. 

It wasn’t long Raihan was back with a full glass yet again, not so gracefully falling onto the couch this time as he took a swig of his drink. Hop had barely made any progress on his, not even halfway done with his first glass, yet he didn’t feel fuzzy or anything like that. Maybe if they were drinking under different circumstances, Hop would be more eager to finish it off, but he needed to keep himself in check, and—

With Hop lost in his thoughts, focus returning to the telly where the knights seemed to be engaged in some sword fight or other, Raihan’s hands found the back of his hair where he ran them up through Hop’s short locks, and he froze at the initial contact. Anytime Raihan touched him, Hop felt vulnerable, but even more so now that he was drunk. When Raihan went at him after drinking, he was never rough, but he was so sloppy, and twice as annoying, so it only served to cause Hop more heartache on his end than anything else. Just when that thought entered his brain, Raihan moved himself over until his thighs were pressed right against Hop, and he fought with every ounce of his body not to panic right now. 

Dipping down, Raihan applied a kiss to the side of his head, and Hop shivered in response. He could already tell he was more hammered than before, as he flung his arm around Hop’s shoulders, pulling him forward with a bit more force than necessary until Hop almost fell over into his lap, Raihan laughing when Hop fumbled to catch himself by reaching out to regain his balance by grabbing the closest thing—which was Raihan’s thigh. As though he’d touched fire, Hop drew his hand back to his chest, gaining another chuckle from Raihan. 

“You w-wanna get frisky, babe, go for it.” His words were slurred, Raihan not waiting for Hop to reply before dipping down to kiss him on the mouth, and the way his tongue prodded at Hop’s teeth, trying to get him to unclench, the way Raihan was so sloppy with how he practically covered Hop’s entire mouth with his own, breathing into him, his breath hot and invading, it was everything Hop could do not to shove his chest as hard as he could to get him the fuck off already. 

“Raihan, stop—” Only a moment, Hop got the chance to speak before Raihan had his mouth crushed back against his, this time with more force, until Hop was almost pushed backward, one of Raihan’s arms wrapped around his shoulder to keep him in place. 

“Hop, I love you…” Raihan’s voice was low, way lower than even his normal baritone, and Hop could tell then he was fucked up, but probably not fucked up enough for him to snag the keycard off him. It was always more telling when Raihan’s voice lowered that he was shitfaced than anything else he did. Other than being overly affectionate, that is. 

Before Hop could reply (though he had no idea what he could say even), Raihan’s mouth was against his throat, sucking what would no doubt be a fresh batch of hickies come tomorrow, and Hop couldn't help but push his chest. “R-Raihan, I don’t want to… Stop it already.” 

“It’s fine, you’re fine.” He only paused to speak between words, the sound coming out much longer and drawn out than it would have normally, but he didn’t let up. “Just wanna love you, baby, just wanna taste you. You taste so-s-so good, Hop, you’re so sweet. Like candy. Wanna eat you up. Wanna make you feel good, always good, always so good, b-babe… Baby…” The entire time he rambled, Raihan would only pause to kiss or suck Hop’s neck, his tongue trailing out to lick Hop’s just now fading bruises before moving down toward the collar of his shirt, pulling it down to reveal his shoulder, before doing the same there. “Love you, Hop. L-love you forever. So much forever. Love you. Goddamn...you’re so beautiful and sexy, y-you know? You gotta know that, Hop. I-I wanna eat your ass one day...fuck, let me, baby, let me do it.”

Was it Hop’s imagination, or was Raihan pressing his weight onto him more and more? He couldn’t tell, as Raihan always felt suffocating, but there was a definite shift in his body the lower Raihan went, the more he loomed over Hop until he was almost leaned back with Raihan about to be on top of him, and he was frozen. Whatever words he was spouting out went by unheard as Hop braced himself for the weight being slowly applied against him. He could only shiver as Raihan did what he wanted, kissing his neck and shoulders, pulling his shirt down over his collarbone to suck against his skin, and there was little Hop could do but let him have his full. Even if he wanted to run, he wouldn’t get far with a drunk Raihan stumbling after him. Hop might make this worse if he fought back, and he was trying hard to keep Raihan as placated as possible, even at the expense of his own comfort, so he said nothing after Raihan made it damn clear he was going to do whatever he was doing, until Hop was left shivering in his arms, staring past Raihan’s head at the entrance of the living room. Chills ran down his spine until the cold sweat from before felt as though it were coming from every pore in his body, but he only hoped Raihan didn’t decide to fuck him. 

Anything but that. 

Why wasn’t he passed out yet? Maybe the drugs weren’t enough. Fuck, Hop probably fucked up, not giving him enough, and he silently cursed himself when Raihan pushed him down on the couch until Hop was lying on his back. He pulled his legs up until Hop was forcibly spread on either side of Raihan’s body, Raihan fitted right against his crotch, and he gasped when Raihan pressed his bulge into him. 

“Shh...don’t worry, baby, I won’t...not gonna do nothing bad… just be good for me, yeah? Be a good boy’n I’ll...I’ll fuckin’...” His words were so horribly slurred, Hop couldn't even make out what he was saying anymore. “I’ll be good for you...promise I’ll...I’ll will...I’ll…” Raihan only leaned up enough to reach Hop’s face, pressing a harsh kiss to his mouth, as it felt as though the entire weight of Raihan’s head pressed against him, and Hop jerked his head to the side, Raihan’s face falling into the crook of his neck. 

“Raihan…” The fear was prevalent in his voice to the point that even Hop could hear it, and noticed the weight against his palms as he pushed against Raihan’s chest, as though he were pressing his body down in an attempt to smother him. “R-Raihan, get off me.” His heart pounded. “You’re suffocating me.” 

“Shh.” With his head against Hop’s neck, he shivered when Raihan’s hot breath poured out onto the wet spots he’d sucked against Hop’s neck earlier, and he tried to wriggle his body to the side, hoping he could fall off the couch to get out from under him, because with each passing second, more and more of Raihan’s weight was pressing down against his chest, and Hop swore he stopped breathing when he realized Raihan was losing consciousness right on top of him. “Shh...baby...I’m—I-I’ll love you...love you...so much. Wanna do...so much for you. A lot, Hop. I wanna...f-fuck, let me keep you. I wanna...keep you… Love you...” 

Those were the last words Hop could make out being slurred from Raihan’s mouth before his weight fell onto him completely, and Raihan ceased moving. Hop could only clutch onto Raihan’s collar, his knuckles paled as he held on with a vice grip, but he spent the next several minutes breathing, breathing and waiting for Raihan to stir again, but he never did. 

Hop’s heart raced. 

Had he...done it? Had he really done it? This didn’t seem real at all, like Hop was watching a movie play in in front of his eyes rather than actual, real life, but he lie there with Raihan’s stilled body slumped on top of him for what felt like hours, waiting for the second he would finally wake up and continue doing what he was doing. His breathing was deep, but steady, so at least he wasn’t dead. Hop was too scared to move, worried that if he tried sliding out from under him, Raihan would wake up, but he was seriously being crushed under his weight, and would pass out soon himself if he didn’t get him off. 

Moving one of his arms out from under him, Hop used every bit of his strength to push Raihan off, but holy shit—he weighed a _ ton _ . His body had fallen completely limp, but at least he was only lying on top of Hop from his waist up, so Hop didn’t have to worry about getting out from under his giant ass legs. With a few, testing moves at first to see if he would stir, Hop found more confidence in his movements, shuffling his own body to the side while simultaneously pushing against Raihan’s chest to move him up as much as his strength would allow. This process seemed as though it took hours—agonizing hours, but finally. 

_ Finally.  _

Hop slipped himself out from underneath Raihan’s unconscious body until he fell off the couch, scrambling to his feet, his heart pounding, every limb shaking with fear as he straightened up to stare at what he’d done. Raihan was passed the absolute fuck out, having not stirred  _ once  _ throughout that entire process, which gave Hop even more drive to start ransacking his clothes. That goddamn keycard had better be on his person, or Hop would go crazy if he had to tear apart his room to look for it. 

He pulled Raihan’s hoodie pocket out from underneath his stupid, heavy ass body as best he could before shoving his hand into his pocket, feeling around for anything flat and plastic. It was so unreal how a stupid piece of plastic was the only thing that rested between here and Hop’s escape, but he could take all the time later to be mad about it. Right now, he had to find that keycard. 

No luck. It wasn’t in his pocket. Fuck—fuck. Hop was panicking, he knew, but he quickly started fishing in Raihan’s shorts, digging through every pocket, even his butt pockets. No luck. Where the  _ fuck _ was this thing? With his frustration taking over his panic somewhat until it was a muddy mess of emotions, Hop reached up to tear Raihan’s headband off, searching through the garment for any hidden pockets. There was nothing. 

Hop almost wanted to cry in anguish. Where was this thing? He was so close, he’d come so far to get Raihan down like this in order to search him, and he  _ couldn’t find _ the damn thing. He fished down around his socks in case he’d hidden it there. No luck. Searched his pockets one more time. No luck. 

Fuck.  _ Fuck. _ Was Hop seriously going to have to tear Raihan’s room apart looking for this goddamn thing? He was about to lose his mind, because with every second that passed meant time lost that Raihan stayed unconscious, and he stood up, whimpering when he couldn’t help the cries of fear that bubbled out, and he probably seemed so pathetic, but he was just short of crying, angry that he couldn’t find this stupid card. Raihan’s dumb hoodie was still zipped up around him, and Hop wondered if there were any hidden pockets on it. It was much bigger, with much more room to hide something like a plastic card in, so Hop set to work, trying to compose himself and resist freaking the hell out (though he’d crossed that bridge already), as he moved Raihan’s arms up behind him, trying to work his stupid jacket off. It was even more work than it was before when Hop clambered out from underneath him, because it was zipped, and Hop was forced to shove Raihan onto his side, using every bit of strength he had to push him over so that he could unzip the damn thing. 

Once that was done, Hop pulled the sleeves off his arms before finally—fucking finally getting Raihan’s hoodie off him. He wasted no more time pulling the sleeves inside out, checking the hood, checking the inside of the breast pocket for—Hop’s heart stopped. There, on the inside of the hoodie, was a small zipper in plain sight, and Hop unzipped it, his hands trembling, dropping the hoodie in his eagerness, and swearing when he had to bend over to pick it back up because he was panicking so much, but he unzipped the pocket, reached inside and—

Felt the unmistakable shape of a small, square card. Hop’s heart thumped, louder and louder, as he pulled it out, a simple, plastic little card, with Raihan’s full name, information, all the like on it, and a little black strip on one side. A chip was visible on the end, and Hop almost vomited, as he couldn’t believe what the fuck he was even holding. It was the keycard. This was Raihan’s keycard, the one fucking thing that would lead to Hop’s freedom, and he was in awe at it, not believing he was even holding onto this thing. It was like a rare jewel, even more fantastical than a legendary Pokémon, and before Hop could marvel at this sight anymore, he was out of the living room. 

His body was moving on its own by this point, but Hop was  _ moving _ , and he found himself in his bedroom, ripping open his closet to pull out a coat, and his shoes. He grabbed the only other thing he could think to grab—his glasses case, and left his contacts behind. Fuck everything else, he only needed the essentials. Hop had no money, he had no phone, he had nothing, but he threw his coat on, stepping into his shoes, and tore down the hallway to the entrance of the apartment, his breathing so hard, he was whimpering again, but he couldn’t help it. Tears were in his eyes, because he was so scared Raihan would wake up any second, he would appear  _ right behind him _ , grab him, yank him right back where he was, and punish him for trying to escape. 

Everything moved in fast motion, Hop’s adrenaline keeping him going, the thought of escape being the only thing on his mind, and before he knew it, he had descended the stairs, tripping down the last few and almost falling on his ass as he scampered to get to that front door like his life depended on it. With shaky hands, he held up the keycard to the little boxed electrical mechanism on the front of the door, the light red, signifying it was locked, and swore through his teeth as he slipped it, the red light not turning green right away. But, Hop realized he was holding the card the wrong way, flipping it over, and when the light turned green, he had never flung open a door so fucking fast in his life. 

The dark hallway right outside the apartment wasn’t unfamiliar to him, but Hop raced out, using the setting sun from the windows as a guide, since there were no lights on in this part of the castle. He allowed the apartment door to shut behind him, and held onto the keycard in case he needed to get through any more doors, before descending the first set of stairs he saw. Raihan often took him up to the balcony for fresh air, but he took the opposite path of that, scared he was going to get lost in this labyrinth of a castle, but he kept running. Any stairwell that led down meant getting out of here faster. Hop ran. He ran and ran, his breathing ragged by this point, his body begging him for rest as he dashed down corridors, unfamiliar rooms, unfamiliar doors, stairs in every fucking direction, but he kept heading down. Down, down, down, anytime he came across stairs, he took them until he was gasping for air, his legs feeling wobbly from all the running, but he didn’t dare let up. 

If Hop fucked this up, he was going to wind right back up in that tower, and he couldn't let that happen. He had to get out. He had to.  _ He had to!  _

It felt like hours Hop spent running around in circles, and he knew he was hopelessly lost. The only indication that he was making it to the ground floor were looking out the windows to see the rooftops of Hammerlocke coming closer and closer. Still, Hop ran, not knowing what he’d do if he came across people, because he couldn’t tell them he had just escaped Raihan’s apartment. 

For some reason, a nagging voice in the back of his mind sneered at him that if he told people he just came from Raihan’s apartment, he would be met with ridicule. They would laugh at him, they wouldn’t believe him if he said he was held captive. Raihan was well-respected, after all, who would believe some frantic kid running around like a crazy idiot? Hop didn’t know what to do. It both felt like he needed someone to help him and like he needed to get the fuck out of here, away from people at the same time. Nobody would help him. What if they even took him back? What if they found out he’d drugged Raihan and Hop was punished for that somehow? 

_ Nobody would believe him.  _

His heart thumped louder, louder—fuck, it was painful, everything was painful, Hop was going to throw up. 

He wanted to be alone. He wanted to go home, he wanted to go back home to Mum and stay in his room where nobody would ever find him again. Hop wanted to block out the rest of the world, because once people set eyes on him, they would know. Everyone would know what he let happen to him, and he wanted to cry at the thought that people would know he’d had sex with Raihan. They would mock him, blame him, say he secretly wished for it because of his childhood crush, and Hop couldn’t handle that. He couldn’t handle that scrutinization—he couldn’t fucking take it. 

Tears blurred his vision, but Hop never stopped running, he twisted around corners as though Raihan were chasing him, as if doing that would lose him, he stumbled down stairwells and into dead ends that forced him to run backward another way, he could see the buildings out the windows lowering more and more, and he wrenched opened door after door, trying to find a way out of this madness. What if Raihan woke up and chased him? He would find him lost in the castle. He would drag Hop kicking and screaming back up to the tower where he would never let him go. Hop would die with him, he was going to fucking die there if he didn’t get out. 

Hop’s stomach threatened to upturn his dinner and he gagged, fighting the horrified sobs that wanted to escape, fighting his fear, fighting the sense that someone was after him and would catch him if he didn’t run fast enough, and Hop was going crazy, if he didn’t—

The door directly in front of him was slammed open, and Hop was finally broken out of his sprint when the cold air was the first thing to catch him off guard. The city of Hammerlocke lay stretched out in front of him, the streetlights buzzing to life as people walked here and there, indistinctly chattering amongst themselves, and Hop almost collapsed onto his knees when he realized—this was an exit. It was a side exit, somehow in his desperate navigation of that maze, Hop had stumbled out of a side entrance to the castle, and had quite literally run right out into the streets. A few people eyed him as he probably looked a sight, shaken and confused for a moment, but he only allowed himself a temporary reprieve before slamming that damn door shut and hightailing it off down the sidewalk. He knew where he was now, and the sight of the cafe in front of him was a sight Hop never thought he’d cringe at when he ran past it, but then there was the Pokémon Center, and finally, the front entrance of the stadium, the very groundwork of the castle itself. 

Hop barely gave it another glance before he tore off down the stone steps that led to the entrance of the city. He wasn’t going to rest until he got as far away from this place as possible, and his mind was racing with too many thoughts for him to even think of what he was doing. He just ran. He ran and ran, out into the wild, avoiding wild Pokémon who eyed him as he ran past, knowing this was stupid to be running so recklessly into gaggles of strong Pokémon when Hop had nothing to defend himself with, but still, he ran, because Raihan might be behind him. Raihan might have caught on and was coming for him. 

How the _ fuck _ was Hop supposed to know? 

He had no phone, no money, no partners with him. Hop was running with nothing but the clothes on his back, and still, he ran. He ran until he was down toward the Pokémon Nursery, he passed under the Route Five bridge, he kept running, hightailing it anytime a wild Pokémon attempted to charge him, and Hop had no idea how long he had run, but his body was giving out on him. It couldn’t take much more of this, but he sucked in air, not knowing if he planned to simply run straight back to Postwick all the way, but just knowing—

“Hop?”

If anything could have broken Hop straight out of his sprint, it was the sound of that voice, and he hit the brakes hard, almost tumbling over his own legs when his adrenaline was wearing off, the jelly-like feeling already taking over. He never thought he would ever hear that voice again, and he almost cried in relief when he turned from where the sound had come from. 

And there she was. 

Gloria was on her bike, appearing as though she were about to pass him, but skidded to a stop when she realized it was Hop who was running like a maniac out in the wild. Hop wasn’t sure what to feel when he saw her, but there was no denying the relief at the sight of her face alone, her surprised, quite obviously shocked face. 

All Hop could manage to gasp out was a strained, “G-Glo-Gloria…” Before he collapsed on his knees from exhaustion, his body finally giving out on him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> see you next chapter! i really can't wait to share with you guys what's to come :) thank you as always for your support, it truly means the world to me ;-; 
> 
> i'm @leonloveshop on twitter if you wanna hang out with me!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH ;o; i really appreciate all the feedback from the last chapter!! you guys are the best please know that i love you all and i hope you continue to enjoy this story! :D

All evening, it was as though Hop had been moving in fast motion, as though time itself were an abstract concept, his perception of everything directly in front of him not even viable, no longer tethered to reality. Because there was no way any of this was happening. Hop had never been kidnapped. He had never been locked up in a tower for three months. He had never been forced into any kind of sexual encounters whatsoever. That was crazy. That was the type of shit that only happened in thriller novels, or movies. 

He had been running for what felt like hours, his body having given out on him until he collapsed to his hands and knees, heaving in gulps of air as though he had never breathed once in his life. Hop had never run so much so far before, already feeling the ache of his legs from having exerted them so much, and he was still in shock over what had even happened, but it was real. This was all _ real. _

Hop really drugged Raihan. He was out of the tower, locking eyes with Gloria. The fast motion he had just experienced, as though Hop had done everything he had done in mere milliseconds, suddenly halted to a slow crawl, and Gloria was off her bike, throwing it to the ground. She moved in slow motion toward him, calling out his name, calling out various things, yet Hop couldn’t seem to make out her words for some reason. It was as though hours passed by in those few seconds she ran over to his side, kneeling down, touching his shoulder, cradling him close, but all Hop could think was that there was no way this was real. 

Time had slowed, Hop focusing on breathing, trying to catch up. If he had run with his fear fueling him, it was taking his brain twice as long to catch up with his body, and he finally sucked in a final gulp of air, lifting his head to meet Gloria’s concerned, frantic expression. She had him gripped by the shoulders, and even from where he had fallen to his knees, he could see tears lining her eyes. 

“Where have you been?!” Throwing her arms around him, Hop could hear the words she was speaking, yet somehow couldn’t register what was even being said to him. Her voice was high-pitched, riddled with woe, rivaling even the times Hop had heard her crying and upset before. Never had he heard Gloria make such sounds of anguish like this, and when she threw her arms around him, burying her face into his neck, squeezing him so tight in a hug, he couldn’t breathe again—

_ Raihan was holding him.  _

_ Raihan was squeezing him so tight that it was difficult to breathe.  _

_ Raihan was whispering in his ear, _ tightening his hold, his breath hot on Hop’s ears as the sensation caused his skin to crawl, his stomach to lurch, his body to react before Hop himself could even stop to think about what he was doing—

He shoved Gloria so hard that it knocked her backward, and Hop scrambled away, his legs too exhausted to supply him the strength he needed, and all he did was fall back onto his butt, shivering, mouth quivering, left to gaze mouth agape at a confused Gloria who righted herself back up. 

Hop...wasn’t sure why he did that, but then his mouth was moving, the words falling out on autopilot, because Hop himself was checked out. “Don’t touch me…” His voice was uncharacteristically low, his heart pounding, every one of his limbs quivering in both exhaustion and fear, and he could only sit there like a moron and shiver. “P-please don’t touch me.” 

He hadn’t meant to shove her so hard. Gloria weighed nothing compared to Raihan. All those times Hop pounded against his chest, pushing him, shoving him away because he didn’t want to make out—it was like trying to push a brick building off him to no avail. Even in the state he was in, his instincts took over, Hop having used every bit of his strength when he shoved her, but seeing her now, taken aback, but not appearing angry, Hop could only apologize. 

Tears lined his eyes, yet he blinked them away. He had no idea why he wanted to cry. “I-I’m sorry. Gloria—I didn’t mean to push you.” 

However, she was back to his side, keeping her distance this time when she settled down next to him, sitting on her knees. It hadn’t appeared Hop had harmed her, as she was only frazzled for a moment before that worried look took hold again. Her voice was much softer when she spoke this time. 

“Hop, what happened?” There was a strange, quite nervous way that Gloria was holding herself, as though fighting off the urge to wrap her arms around Hop once more, but was willing herself to keep still. “Are you hurt?”

_ Was he hurt?  _

Physically no, but Hop didn’t quite know how to answer that question, so he shook his head. “I-I don’t think so.” 

“What happened? Where have you been?” Try as she might to stay calm and collected, Hop could tell Gloria was about to go crazy herself, and he couldn’t exactly blame her. Here he was, running like mad out in the wild, happening upon her by chance after being missing for three months. Of course she was worried. Of course she was curious where in the hell he’d been that entire time. 

“I was…” But he trailed off. His heart still pounding, Hop had to look away from her out of shame, as though she would magically know everything if he looked her in the eye. Somehow, someway, Gloria would know  _ exactly  _ what happened, she would know where he’d been all this time, and she would ask him why it was such a big deal. 

Because Hop had liked Raihan, right? So then it wasn’t kidnapping. It wasn’t against his will. None of it was. 

Shivering, he trailed off on his sentence, not bothering to finish, because there was no way he could tell her he had been with Raihan that entire time. Hop feared being mocked, but he also feared being called stupid for having gotten himself in that situation in the first place. He let Raihan buy him a coffee. He drank the entire thing. He was the one who let himself get drugged and wind up in that place. 

It was all Hop’s fault. 

Swallowing, he braced himself, his face ablaze with shameful heat, his hands fisting his trousers in a desperate attempt at levity, but he didn’t know what else to do. There was nothing in the world that would make this go away, that would make Gloria go away so that he didn’t have to have this conversation in the first place. 

Hop just wanted to go home. 

“Hey.” Gently, as gently as she could, Gloria spoke in a soft, soothing voice, as though trying not to startle a skittish Pokémon, before she patted his shoulder, and Hop hated that he flinched at her touch. That wasn’t fair to Gloria. She wasn’t to blame for any of this. It was Hop’s fault he couldn’t handle being touched anymore. “Let’s get you home, okay? You don’t have to tell me what happened right away.” 

Hop shook his head, his heart pounding for some reason. Yes, while he had been running like a maniac before, Postwick was the only place on his mind, but now that he was thinking rationally, he couldn’t go back there. Mum would question him. They would all question him what the fuck happened for him to go missing for three months. 

Then Mum would call Leon. And Leon—

Hop’s heart thumped again, the memory from when Raihan showed him that video flashing through his mind. No. He couldn’t handle seeing his brother right now. He couldn't handle knowing that his own brother admitted that he wished he could sleep with Hop. He could not— _ he would not _ —deal with that right now. So home was out of the question as well. 

People were out of the question. Too many people, too many prying eyes, too many judgmental stares as Hop walked by and tried to pretend nothing was amiss. He didn’t want to be anywhere right now. It would be so much easier if a hole just swallowed him up from the ground where Hop didn’t even have to exist in the world right now. He wanted to be alone, but he didn’t want to part from Gloria. He wanted to go home, but he didn’t want to see Mum or Leon. 

He just wanted everything to stop. 

“I-I don’t wanna go home.” His voice was quivering, but he managed to lift his head back up to give Gloria the most pleading look he could muster. “Please, Gloria.  _ Please _ understand. I can’t go back there right now.” There was no telling what Leon’s reaction would be if he found out Raihan and Hop had been intimate. What would his mother say? Would she blame him? Would she call him stupid for being in that situation, for getting kidnapped? “I-I just want to be away from everything right now.” His voice choked, the tears threatening to spill any moment, but Hop didn’t dare let them fall. He blinked them away, swallowing to try and loosen his tight throat, before he couldn’t look up anymore, lowering his head. “ _ Please. _ ”

He thought she would protest, insist they get him to safety as soon as possible. Hop figured Gloria would hound him, grill him for the details right this second, or at least try and talk him into going to Motostoke for the evening. In the entire time it took Hop to get the fuck out of Hammerlocke, the sun had set, the two of them sitting together underneath a moon that climbed higher and higher the longer they dallied. 

But, Gloria nodded, giving him another soft pat to his back, before she responded in a soothing tone Hop never thought she was capable of. “We’ll go wherever you want to go, Hop. I have my camping gear with me. Tell me where you want to stay, and we’ll stay there.” 

Hop lifted his head, met with a kind, but concerned smile, and he could finally feel the beating of his heart steady off, his body calming from the tremors, and for the first time since he had been kidnapped, Hop allowed himself to feel comfort in Gloria’s eyes as he opened his mouth. “I want to be away from here.”

She patted his back, never lowering her gentle, warm smile. “Then let’s get away from here.”

* * *

The pair traveled way past Motostoke until they were near the outskirts of the station. Hop felt a little safer being under a canopy of trees, away from any trainers they might meet on the way, away from any wild Pokémon that wanted to fight, but they finally settled in relative isolation. Gloria had set her bike to the side while the pair of them worked on setting up camp for the evening. Hop had to admire how Gloria always seemed so prepared, as she’d brought two tents (just in case one was damaged during the weather), so at least Hop didn’t have to worry about sleeping right next to her. 

He couldn’t handle anything like that now, even if she was his friend. Hop just wanted to be alone, tucked into the safety of a tent, and give himself time to recover enough he could figure out what the hell he was going to do. 

The moon had since hovered over the trees, leaving them to rely on what little light was streaming through the branches and leaves while they worked. In no time, they had their tents pitched side by side, Hop still spreading out the blankets inside while Gloria busied herself building a fire. It had gotten quite chilly as the night dragged on and needless to say, Hop was shivering. At least it wasn’t from fear for once, he could say. 

Time had returned to a steady jaunt by the time Hop settled down next to Gloria by the fire. She had a bit of rice boiling for herself, but it hadn’t been too long Hop had eaten, so he had to decline her offer for a bowl. The silence between them was uncomfortable at first, Hop knowing she had a thousand questions for him, and there was no way he could tell the truth. How did he expect to just come out and say Raihan was the one who kidnapped him? It wasn’t like it was some random stranger off the streets, Raihan was well-respected, he had just as many fans as Leon. Nobody would believe Raihan capable of doing such heinous things. 

Not even Hop could believe it at first. 

“Hop?” Gloria’s concerned tone dragged him from his thoughts and he looked over at her from where he sat with his knees bunched to his chin. Taking a spoonful of rice, she merely took a bite as though biding time for what she wanted to ask him, although Hop already knew. He couldn’t run forever and Gloria of all people deserved at least a partial truth. She swallowed her food before speaking. “Where have you been for three months? We’ve all been worried sick, thinking something awful happened to you. Me, your Mum and Leon—we’ve been working tirelessly to find you.” 

Hop visibly cringed, because he didn’t want to tell her anything. He couldn’t even figure out how to vaguely say he’d been held captive that whole time, because even that was embarrassing as fuck. What did he say? What could he say?

Shivers ran down his spine until he huddled into his coat. 

They cared though. The lies Raihan spewed at him—it was just a way to make Hop vulnerable, and he knew it was a lie from the start. Hop knew they had been looking for him, but why would anyone suspect the great amazing Raihan of any wrongdoing? He was ashamed of himself for letting Raihan’s poison get to him the way it had, yet that realization and relief was short-lived when Hop remembered Gloria was still expecting a response from him. 

“I was…” He trembled, because there was no way he could admit he’d been with Raihan. They would all blame him, everyone would blame him and it didn’t matter what had happened. It didn’t matter he’d been drugged, he’d been held captive. None of that mattered in the end, because he once had feelings for Raihan. 

Once had? Hop grimaced at himself, having to look away from Gloria’s expectant stare. Yeah right. He still carried those feelings. He still felt his heart flutter anytime Raihan had come near him. He’d still been attracted to him. Hop couldn’t lie to himself of all people. Fuck—he really was pathetic. Nothing but a failure from the start and really, he should have known better than anyone this Pokémon trainer bullshit wouldn’t lead anywhere—other than being locked up with a pervert. 

He hated it. He hated everything, yet couldn’t open his damn mouth to respond. It was too embarrassing to say those words, his entire face heated at the mere thought, and all he could do was bury his face into his knees in some makeshift attempt at hiding his shame. Lying to Gloria about what happened hurt, but the truth hurt even worse. 

All he could do was sit in silence. 

When Hop didn’t reply, Gloria set her bowl of rice down next to the campfire before Hop could hear her rifling around in her bag. Taking only a moment to lift his head out of mild curiosity, he watched her pull her Rotom phone out and couldn’t help to scowl at the sight of that damn thing’s ever-present grin. It wasn’t this Rotom’s fault, but Hop couldn’t help it. 

She swiped the screen open and Hop assumed she was checking social media, but found himself asking, “What are you doing?” If he was being completely honest, it put him off a bit that she was absentmindedly checking her phone at a time like this, but he didn’t want to think Gloria had any ill intentions. 

“Calling your brother.”

Not even a second passed before Hop was on his feet, scrambling close to Gloria where he reached out and snatched the phone right out of her hands. There on her screen, he could see his brother’s number pulled up, but she hadn’t dialed yet. The look on her face could only be defined as confusion at the fact Hop just ripped her phone away from her. 

“Hop, wha—”

“Don’t call him.” His heart was pounding, cold sweat forming at the base of his neck, his hands shaking so much, he was about to drop the phone, and Rotom buzzed at being gripped so tightly, but all Hop could think about was that video. That fucking, stupid video of his brother declaring that he wanted to fuck him. His brother.  _ His own brother. _ Bile threatened to rise, but Hop bit it down, bit down the urge to vomit, tried to steady the beating of his rapid heartbeat, but he couldn’t take much more of this stress. He just sprinted all the way from Hammerlocke, and now he had to deal with this fucking shit. 

Hop couldn’t handle seeing Leon right now. Whether or not that was a true confession, Leon  _ still  _ admitted it, and Hop’s skin crawled at the fact his own brother had said something like that about him. Leon was just another pervert he had to worry about, if Raihan wasn’t bad enough—how the fuck was Hop supposed to know Leon had thoughts like that? His mind was racing, and he was exhausted from dealing with all this. Hop could only take one disaster at a time, but he could not and would  _ not _ speak to Leon. 

Gloria’s expression remained confused, but Hop couldn’t tell her why. He kept the phone out of her reach, Rotom about to fly out his hands in an attempt to escape, but he was scared she would snatch it back and call his brother anyway. 

“I-I’m sorry, Gloria. I don’t want to talk to him right now.” If Gloria decided to call everyone out here, Hop might run away again. He didn’t want to see Leon. He didn’t want to see Mum. He didn’t want to see random strangers. 

Hop didn’t want to see  _ anyone.  _

Giving him a slow, gentle nod, Gloria didn’t break eye contact, but Hop could see the sorrow in her expression alone. She didn’t understand, she was confused, as anyone would be, but she wasn’t going to do anything that would upset Hop any further. 

“Okay. I won’t. What do you want to do, Hop?” 

Being asked permission was such a far off concept to him, that Hop was sure if he said he just wanted to stay here for the night, get his head on straight before doing anything or talking to anyone, that Gloria would simply take her phone back and call Leon anyway. Leon would come. Leon would ask questions, and he wouldn’t be as passive as Gloria. He would sit with Hop until he got an honest response, and Hop wanted to do anything but that. 

If he could just sleep for one night without thinking about anything, anything at all, maybe come tomorrow, things would be just a little bit better. 

Against his better judgement, Hop handed Gloria back her Rotom, the phone looking up at him with just as much confusion as Gloria was, before Hop sighed, wishing he could expel every negative thought, emotion, and feeling when he did so. “I-I just want to stay here for a while. I’d feel safer if we stayed under the trees. I don’t want to talk to anyone right now.” 

It shouldn’t have surprised him when Gloria nodded. It shouldn’t have surprised him, because he was so used to being told what to do, or coerced into what to do, whether he liked it or not, that he honestly didn’t know how to react when she reached out to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. “You don’t have to tell me anything right this second if you don’t want to, Hop. If you want to stay here, we’ll stay here. You talk when you’re ready to, okay?”

It didn’t seem real. None of this seemed real, yet it was happening. Tears lined Hop’s eyes, because he just didn’t know how to react right now. The fear from before, all the stress he’d been dealing with over the past three months, it was as though it disappeared for a fraction of a moment. Hop wasn’t afraid. He wasn’t ashamed. He wasn’t relieved or glad or anything. 

Hop didn’t feel anything. 

The only reason he even knew he was tired was because of his aching limbs. He had strained himself during his escape, pushing muscles that hadn’t been used in months, running such a distance to get the fuck away that his body was forced to give out on him, and now that he was hidden beneath a canopy of trees with his friend, close to the fire, the warmth a sensation his body was glad to have, yet Hop yielded no comfort from it, all he could do was slowly breathe. Breathe and exist for a few moments. 

Exist. 

Breathe in. 

Breathe out. 

Hop wasn’t in the tower right now. Hop wasn’t in that bedroom, gazing out the window at the streets far, far below. He wasn’t locked up with a pervert anymore. Hop was outside. Outside with Gloria. Breathing the fresh air. Chilled from the cold, but also warm by the fire. The distance sounds of wandering Pokémon echoed around them. 

Hop’s heart thumped. They were all just experiences. Sensations. As though he were watching a movie, but not living in reality. Hop was a bystander looking in on a scene, and he felt nothing at all. 

Sucking in a breath, Hop blinked his tears away before giving Gloria a solemn nod. “Thank you.”

* * *

The rest of the evening was spent by the fire. Hop said nothing for a long time, but Gloria attempted to chat him up about nonsensical things, and he appreciated the distraction from everything that was happening. He didn’t care if she wanted to ramble about a new curry recipe she’d tried out, Hop was grateful not to be thinking about Hammerlocke for once. It was a poor excuse for normalcy, he knew, but Hop didn’t care. 

The least he could do was try to put a bandaid on everything for now. At least Gloria was here. Hop may not have had the strength to see his own mother, but having his friend by his side, indulging him, letting him stay out here even when the best course of action was probably for Hop to be home, was all he could ever ask for.

It might have been dumb staying here in the open, but Hop would rather risk the elements than have to speak to his mother about what happened. Neither she nor Leon would be like Gloria. They’d grill him for answers until Hop was forced to say what really happened. 

He sighed, the anxiety from earlier settling into his stomach, ever present, but calmer. 

It was nice though, just sitting here with his friend, listening to her ramble on about nothing in particular. Hop wasn’t expected to contribute to the conversation, and he found safety in the fact alone he could simply sit here and listen. Nothing was being forced on him. Gloria didn’t force him to explain to her what happened. Hop didn’t have to do anything he didn’t want. 

He found his eyelids drooping while Gloria spoke. It wasn’t that the conversation was boring by any means, but Hop was comfortable, a feeling he never thought he’d experience again. Yet here he was, being lulled to sleep by Gloria’s soft, gentle voice. She told him about things that didn’t matter. Things not relevant to Hop’s disappearance, things he didn’t have to waste brain power thinking too hard about, because he was simply taking in the sound of her voice, the crackle of the fire, and the far off cries of Pokémon that were settling in for the night. 

It was almost peaceful. 

The higher the moon climbed, the more exhausted Hop grew, until he’d closed his eyes completely, simply too cozy to move. 

“Hop?” At the sound of his name, Hop stirred, lifting his head from his knees and casting a glance at Gloria. She returned with a hard stare, but twiddled her fingers as though nervous. “Have you...been in Hammerlocke this entire time?” 

The cold sweat prickled the back of his neck, his heart thumping out of reflex. Tilting his head back down to stare at the dirt on the ground, Hop said nothing. 

“I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t push you to say what happened. I’m just so relieved you’re alright.” 

_ Alright.  _ Was he, though? Hop didn’t know. He didn’t think he’d ever be alright. Not anymore. 

“We’ve been looking for you all this time, trying to find information on where you went. When you didn’t show up at the hotel, I called your brother asking if he knew where you were, and he said no. I figured you had gotten caught up with something and decided to camp out somewhere, but you never showed up for the semifinals.” 

He almost wanted to scoff at how stupid this entire thing was. It was one thing if it was some random person who had done all this to him, but Hop couldn’t even fathom telling Gloria or his mother that it had been Raihan’s doing. Everyone knew him, his brother was best friends with him, Gloria was a huge fan, and he knew his Mum thought Raihan was just the sweetest person in the world, so—

Closing his eyes, Hop inwardly reeled. 

This was all his fault. If only he hadn’t lingered after his match with Raihan. If only he hadn’t been so shy around him, hoping Raihan would speak to him, but also terrified he would speak to him. He shouldn’t have accepted the  _ ‘celebratory’ _ coffee from Raihan. The blindfold should have never come off. Raihan said he would have taken him back if Hop only hadn’t seen his face. 

If Hop hadn’t moved around so much, maybe the blindfold wouldn’t have come loose. Maybe Raihan would have kept good on his word and taken him to Wyndon. Maybe Hop wouldn’t even be here right now, maybe wondering who his mystery kidnapper had been, but also having no knowledge it had been Raihan in the first place. Could he have moved on from that and recovered? The paranoia would still be there. Hop would suspect every single person who passed him by, never finding peace knowing some stranger had taken advantage of him. 

It was stupid that Hop couldn’t even figure out if it was better he knew Raihan had done it. At least he had a tangible object to pinpoint all of his anger onto, even if it wasn’t fair to push all that to Raihan. Hop was garbage. He knew this was his fault. He knew nobody would believe him. 

The most he could do was lie. Maybe then it wouldn’t be so embarrassing to say what had happened to him this entire time. Because what kind of person was dumb enough to get caught up in that type of situation? Being held prisoner in their brother’s best friend’s apartment? It was asinine. No, the only way to save himself from that fucking shame was to simply say he’d run away, avoiding the semifinals because he was too scared to fight in front of all those people just to lose in the end. 

If Hop was already so pathetic, what would it matter to just say so? He was  _ pathetic.  _

Saying he had run away, hidden in Hammerlocke that entire time on the down low—it’d be a much better story to get out. Nobody would have to know how stupid he’d been. Nobody would have to know Raihan had kept him captive and slept with him. It would be displayed everywhere, every single person in Galar would know Hop and Raihan had sex—and they would call him trash. A secret lover even. Raihan was well-loved, they wouldn’t believe he was capable of something as despicable as rape. 

Hop shivered. 

If he could even call it that. Was it still rape if Raihan made it good for him? That he never touched him unless Hop orgasmed first? He always,  _ always  _ made sure Hop was taken care of before moving onto himself, so what the fuck did he even call that? Hop didn’t know. He didn’t want to think about it anymore. 

All he knew was come tomorrow, he had to go home, and he had to tell his mother he simply ran away. If Leon asked him what happened, he would say the same. Hop ran away. Hop was a coward and ran away for three months. That’s what happened. 

“Hop?” 

When he didn’t speak for a long time, Gloria suddenly appeared by his side, and Hop tensed at the sensation of having her so close. It was just a reflex by this point. Hop didn't know why he was acting this way around her. Gloria had never hurt him. She would never do anything like that. 

“Is it alright if I hug you?” 

His throat tightened. 

“I’m just so happy you’re safe.” 

Fuck his comfort, Hop couldn’t say no to her when she had to be going through her own shit during all this mess. Even if it made his skin crawl to be touched, if it pleased her, Hop would give in. 

Slowly, he nodded, his gaze fixed to the fire. “O-okay…” 

Gently, as gently as she could, Gloria leaned over onto her knees before placing her arms around his shoulder. Her face buried into the crook of his neck, but she didn’t squeeze him too hard. Hop could feel her trembling around him, her breathing slow, but quaking. “I-I thought you might be dead.” 

Maybe Raihan should have killed him then. It would be better than this. His chest ached at the thought of that for some reason, but sometimes Hop really did wish Raihan would have just used him, killed him afterward, and buried his body somewhere nobody would find it. 

Hop could only reach up to grip hold of her wrist in reassurance. “I’m sorry, Gloria.” 

“I’ve been looking for you every day.”

That should have made him glad, but Hop could only sigh as he held onto her, allowing her to hug him, but never returning the same gesture. He couldn’t even let his knees fall below his chest, because he felt too exposed that way. Hugging her back would only make him feel disgusting, and it wasn’t her fault. Hop was just garbage. 

“We’ve got to at least let your Mum and Leon know you’re okay tomorrow, alright? They’ve been worried sick about you, Hop. Even if you don’t want to tell them what happened, they have a right to know you’re alive.”

That caused his chest to tighten, but Hop knew she was right. It wasn’t fair for his mother or his brother to suffer and worry over him. He wasn’t worth it. They should have just been happy he was gone, honestly. It wasn’t like Hop was doing much with his life to begin with. Other than wasting space. 

But, he nodded, just to placate her. “Okay…” 

“Try and get some rest, okay?” She finally released the hug, and Hop untensed, having stiffened up that entire time, and he knew there was no way she hadn’t felt it, but he couldn’t look her in the eye anymore. Even in the dark, lit only by the fire, Hop could see the anguish in her eyes, and it pained him to look at. She gestured off past him toward the tents. “I’ll be right next to you if you need me. It’s late. We should both head to bed.” 

Hop nodded. “Okay…” 

With no more words said, the pair stood away from the fire that had begun to diminish in the time they spent gathered around it, Gloria telling her stories while Hop dozed here and there. Gloria tucked herself away inside of her tent, leaving Hop to climb into the spare right next to her. He had set out plenty of blankets for the both of them, and while sleeping on the ground wasn’t the most comfortable, it was a hell of a lot better than being in that bedroom for another night. 

Hop was exhausted, yet he didn’t know if he could sleep all that easily. Even with Gloria right next to him, he still felt so exposed, and only zipped his jacket up as though that would somehow make him feel less vulnerable. The more layers, the better. Only removing his shoes, Hop tucked himself under the covers, pulling his little rubber case from his pocket to set his glasses inside before rolling onto his side, curling up in as tight a ball as he could, and closing his eyes to try and will the sleep to come. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm @leonloveshop on twitter if you wanna come hang out with me! :D i sometimes post chapter previews before they're finished if you're interested in sneak peeks <3


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